Dictionary

sexualize en · VERB

Pronunciation

• (Southern-England) audio
• /ˈsɛk.ʃu.əl.aɪz/ (General-American)

Etymology

Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *sek-der. Proto-Indo-European *séks-u-sder. Proto-Italic *seksus Proto-Indo-European *sek- Proto-Indo-European *-yeti Proto-Indo-European *sékh₁yeti Proto-Italic *sekaō Latin secō Latin secāre? Latin sexus Proto-Indo-European *h₂el- Proto-Indo-European *-is Proto-Indo-European *h₂élisder.? Proto-Italic *-ālis Latin -ālis Latin sexuālisbor. English sexual Proto-Indo-European *-id- Proto-Indo-European *-yéti Proto-Indo-European *-idyéti Proto-Hellenic *-íd͏̌d͏̌ō Ancient Greek -ῐ́ζω (-ĭ́zō)bor. Late Latin -izōder. Middle French -iserbor. Middle English -isen English -ize English sexualize From sexual + -ize.

Meanings

1. (transitive) To render sexual, or apply sex appeal to (a person, thing, or concept).
   • I have charted a change from a Victorian culture that spiritualized love to modern efforts to sexualize love. The latter contributed, more-over, to the development of a culture of eroticism. 1991, Steven Seidman, Romantic Longings, page 121:
   • Your advertising doesn't need to sexualize goods and services to sell them to me, and in fact I might make a point of not buying your product if you pester me with sexualization.
   • […] the adoption of the veil by Muslim women in West European countries is often justified as a mark of their autonomy, a breakaway from the sexualizing influences of Western culture. 2011, Jeffrey Weeks, The Languages of Sexuality, Routledge, page 158:
   • “Asian women on-screen, especially in America and Hollywood, have been so sexualized and fetishized for the benefit of other people’s stories or jokes,” Ashley says. “And we’re like, ‘We’re gonna go balls to the wall, further than anyone’s gone with Asian women.’” 2023 June 15, Kat Moon, “Ashley Park’s Main Character Energy From ‘Joy Ride’ Is Here To Stay: ‘I’m Treating Myself Like A Lead Now’”, in Women's Health:
   • Children’s beauty pageants sexualize childhood.
   • […] “Coomers malding PepeLaugh,” […] The second comment, written by HarleyJ, insinuates that “coomers” (a term used to refer to an individual that overly sexualizes things) are angered by her actions, […] 2021 August 10, Dylan Maroney, quoting a comment by HarleyJ, Livestreaming Vico: Imagination and the Ecology of Literacy in Online Gaming, Georgia State University, archived from the original on 24 May 2022, page 36:
2. (transitive) To distinguish as belonging to separate sexes.

Forms

Antonyms

desexualize

Deriveds

sexualizer · bisexualize · intersexualize · heterosexualize · transsexualize · desexualize · sexualization · homosexualize · hypersexualize · sexualizable · oversexualize · asexualize · metrosexualize · unisexualize · resexualize · unsexualize · pansexualize

Relateds

objectify

Synonyms

sex

Translations (14)

sv sexualisera (to make sexual) · fr sexualiser (to make sexual) · es sexualizar (to make sexual) · fi seksualisoida (to make sexual) · de sexualisieren (to make sexual) · cmn 性化 (to make sexual) · ca sexualitzar (to make sexual) · fi seksuaalistaa (to make sexual) · pt sexualizar (to make sexual) · ga gnéasaigh (to make sexual) · lv seksualizēt (to make sexual) · it sessualizzare (to make sexual) · fi sukupuolistaa (to make sexual) · gl sexualizar (to make sexual)