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Glite Dictionary
to eroticize

to eroticize

2 9.1
To make something seem sexual to attract attention
  • verb
  • /ɪˈrɒtɪsaɪz/
  • NSFW
translation icon : erotizar
  • The photographer managed to eroticize the ordinary landscape by capturing it in soft, flattering lighting.

It's the eroticizing violence towards others and particularly the vulnerable, and particularly women.

Examples

  • The director thus eroticizes the scene, fusing sexuality with the act.

    Academic text (2000)

  • They intensely eroticize being infants.

    A Dirty Shame (2004)

  • They are so full of sex that they can eroticize a piece of metal.

    Fiction book (2001)

  • In his work, Kincaid claims that these stories eroticize innocence.

    Academic text (2014)

  • People have been eroticizing power, pain, and various fetishes since time immemorial.

    Blog text (10)

  • At the same time, it is eroticized through an evocation of skin against skin, of lips touching flesh without kissing.

    Academic text (2000)

  • In these novels, diseased characters do not have children, but they are eroticized; and an implied sterility is part of their eroticism.

    Academic text (1999)

  • A mediocre picture, a picture queasy with pornography: these, she knew, eroticized the unavailable.

    Fiction book (1999)

  • J.B.—even he who put entertainment into toilet paper and eroticized hair cream for television—was impressed.

    Fiction book (1994)

  • James Kincaid points out the ways in which innocence is, in fact, eroticized through narratives that titillate audiences with innocence's possible destruction (13).

    Academic text (2014)

Synonyms

to sexualize
vsto eroticize
  • NSFW
13 7.5

To make people think of someone or something in terms of sex

is more about giving a suggestive and sexually appealing quality
to sex up
vsto eroticize
  • NSFW
1 8.4

Make something more attractive or exciting by adding sexual details

is about adding erotic character rather than flashy, sensational additions

Antonyms

to desexualize
  • US
1 9.2

To remove sexual meaning from people or objects

How Erotic

to eroticize
  • NSFW
2 9.1
to sensualize
  • Literature
8.4

Surface Forms

eroticize infinitive
eroticized past
eroticized past participle
eroticizing present participle
eroticizes third person singular

Morphology

eroticize = erotic (transparent) = erotic + ize

The verb is formed by the productive suffix '-ize' meaning 'to make or render', so the meaning 'to make erotic' is directly derived from the base adjective.

Etymology

Eroticize comes from erotic, which comes from the Greek name Eros meaning 'love' or sexual desire, and the ending -ize means 'to make', as in realize. So to eroticize something is to 'make it sexual' or give it a sexual tone.