sexualize

English

Alternative forms

• sexualise (chiefly British)

Etymology

Etymology tree

Proto-Indo-European *sek-der.

Proto-Indo-European *séks-u-sder.

Proto-Italic *seksus

Proto-Indo-European *sek-der.

Proto-Italic *sekaō

Latin secō

Latin secāre?

Latin sexus

Proto-Indo-European *h₂el-der.?

Proto-Italic *-ālis

Latin -ālis

Latin sexuālisbor.

English sexual

Proto-Indo-European *-id-

Proto-Indo-European *-yéti

Proto-Indo-European *-idyéti

Proto-Hellenic *-íďďō

Ancient Greek -ῐ́ζω (-ĭ́zō)bor.

Late Latin -izōder.

Middle French -iserbor.

Middle English -isen

English -ize

English sexualize

From sexual + -ize.

Pronunciation

• (General American) IPA^(key): /ˈsɛk.ʃu.əl.aɪz/

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

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).

   Antonym: desexualize

   Hyponyms: asexualize, bisexualize, heterosexualize, homosexualize, hypersexualize, intersexualize, metrosexualize, oversexualize, pansexualize, resexualize, transsexualize, unisexualize

   Children’s beauty pageants sexualize childhood.

   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.

   • 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.

   Synonym: sex (verb)

Derived terms

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

Translations

to make sexual

• Catalan: sexualitzar (ca)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 性化 (xìnghuà)

• 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)

See also

• objectify

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