sex up

English

Pronunciation

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Verb

sex up (third-person singular simple present sexes up, present participle sexing up, simple past and past participle sexed up)

1. (transitive, slang) To take part in sexual acts with.

   I wanna sex you up!

   • 1991, “I Wanna Sex You Up”, in Dr. Freeze (lyrics), C.M.B., performed by Color Me Badd:

     Make sweet lovin' all night long / Oh, I wanna sex you up / Feels so right it can't be wrong

2. (transitive, slang) To arouse somebody sexually

   Get spanked: it'll sex you up!

   • 2003, “Sexed Up”, in Escapology, performed by Robbie Williams:

     I got my eyes shut / Praying they won't stray / Oh we're not sexed up / That's what makes the difference today

3. (transitive, slang) To make more sexually attractive.

   Enrique Iglesias sexed up his music video to appeal to a younger audience.

   • 2021 February 16, Tina Edwards, “Female UK jazz musicians face sexual harassment and discrimination, says report”, in The Guardian‎^[1]:

     Women in the UK jazz scene face discrimination and sexual harassment according to a new report, from requests to “sex up” their album covers to tokenism, maternal discrimination and scepticism about their musical capabilities.

4. (transitive, slang) To enhance in terms of fashionable appeal.

   How do I sex up my phone?

   • 2017 May 9, Faiza Shaheen, “Tax is getting a bad rap – it’s time to sex it up”, in The Guardian‎^[2]:

     What’s clear is that with wealth inequality at near record highs and income inequality predicted to worsen, we can’t afford to leave things as they are. It’s time to “sex up” tax.

5. (transitive, slang) To sensationalize.
   • 2003 August 12, Julia Day, “Kelly ‘said government sexed up Iraq dossier’”, in The Guardian‎^[3]:

     BBC journalist Andrew Gilligan today said David Kelly was in no doubt the government had “sexed up” the Iraq intelligence dossier at the heart of the Hutton inquiry.

   • 2010 January 10, Chris Ames, Richard Norton-Taylor, “Alastair Campbell had Iraq dossier changed to fit US claims”, in The Guardian‎^[4]:

     Fresh evidence has emerged that Tony Blair's discredited Iraqi arms dossier was “sexed up” on the instructions of Alastair Campbell, his communications chief, to fit with claims from the US administration that were known to be false.

   • 2014 March 24, Dean Burnett, “Sexed-up science news - reporting the story gets in the way of a good fact”, in The Guardian‎^[5]:

     Last week saw a backlash against tabloid-style “sexing-up” of science reporting.