Other words carry a tone of judgment, indicating that such things are offensive or inappropriate, including lewd and vulgar. Something that deals with sexual elements somewhat indirectly-such as through innuendos-can be called sexually suggestive. These include racy, risqué, steamy, sensual, and titillating. Many of the synonyms for this sense of sexy are a bit euphemistic, meaning they’re intended to be a bit softer or less direct. The sense of sexy that means “sexually stimulating” is often applied to media, like books and movies, that contain sexual elements intended to be stimulating, especially as their primary focus.
In the case of the dress, the word flirty can mean about the same thing. Sometimes, the word is used to describe something that’s thought to be sexually appealing-by making someone more sexually attractive, as in a sexy accent or I want to find a sexy dress for the wedding. The word attractive is also commonly used to indicate this, as in I find men with good taste in books very attractive. A person may be considered sexy for many other reasons, such as their sense of humor or interests. Sexy most often relates to a person’s physical appearance, but this is not always the case. You could also just say, “You look great!” A word that accomplishes the same thing but is less focused on physical appearance is fierce.
Words like gorgeous, beautiful, good-looking, and pretty are all used in reference to looks but are less directly tied to sex.Īll of these words, including sexy, can be used to simply imply that you think a person looks good (as opposed to implying that you find them sexually attractive), like when you say that your friend looks sexy as a compliment.
A perhaps more tasteful way of saying this is simply attractive. A very similar term for this sense of the word is hot, which is very informal and, like sexy, can be objectifying. When you describe a person as sexy, it often suggests that you are sexually attracted to them. Sexy is most commonly used to describe someone considered sexually attractive, but it gets used in all kinds of other ways.