sexualize

English

Alternative forms

• sexualise (chiefly British)

Etymology

From sexual +‎ -ize.

Verb

sexualize (third-person singular simple present sexualizes, present participle sexualizing, simple past and past participle sexualized)

1. (transitive) To render sexual, or apply sex appeal to (a person, thing, or concept).

   Children’s beauty pageants sexualize childhood.

   • 1991, Steven Seidman, Romantic Longings‎^[1], page 121:

     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.

   • 2011, Jeffrey Weeks, The Languages of Sexuality, Routledge, page 158:

     […] 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.

   • 2021 August 10, Dylan Maroney, quoting a comment by HarleyJ, Livestreaming Vico: Imagination and the Ecology of Literacy in Online Gaming‎^[2], Georgia State University, page 36:

     […] “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, […]

   • 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^[3]:

     “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.’”

2. (biology, transitive) To distinguish as belonging to separate sexes.

Antonyms

• desexualize

Derived terms

• sexualization

Translations

to make sexual

• Catalan: sexualitzar (ca)
• Finnish: seksualisoida (fi), seksuaalistaa, sukupuolistaa
• French: sexualiser (fr)
• Galician: sexualizar
• German: sexualisieren
• Irish: gnéasaigh
• Italian: sessualizzare (it)
• Latvian: seksualizēt
• Portuguese: sexualizar (pt)
• Spanish: sexualizar (es)
• Swedish: sexualisera (sv)

Galician

Verb

sexualize

1. (reintegrationist norm) inflection of sexualizar:
   1. first/third-person singular present subjunctive
   2. third-person singular imperative

Portuguese

Verb

sexualize

1. inflection of sexualizar:
   1. first/third-person singular present subjunctive
   2. third-person singular imperative