sex appeal:
1. Personal qualities that arouse erotic interest in others; physical attractiveness or desirability. 2. The ability to arouse sexual interest and desire .
Synonyms: allure; appeal; attraction; attractiveness; beefcake (male s.a.); charm; cheesecake ; come-on ; dissa-and-datta ; enticement; erotic-charm ; es-ay ; fascination; get-together-principle,-the ; have-plenty-of-snap-in-her-garter ; have-a-lot-of-what-s/he's-got ; have IT in a big way ; have IT in large gobs; have IT in large helpings; have-plenty-of-this-and-that ; have-plenty-of-what-s/he's-got ; invitingness; it (IT or It); it-and-that ; it-and-more ; It-ness ; ittiness ; ittishness ; lovableness; magnetism; (the) makings; masculine-quotient (male s.a.); mmph ; MQ (male s.a.); myeh ; nyeh ; old-stuff,-the ; oomph ; pleasurableness; pull ; runcible ; S.A. (sex appeal); SAM (sex appeal and magnetism); seductiveness; sex-apple ; sex-stuff ; sex-voltage ; sextraction ; sexual attractiveness; sexiness ; sizzle ; skin ; steamy ; stuff ; that-certain-something ; that-thing ; thata ; these-and-those ; this-and-that ; thisa-and-thata ; umph ; what-it-takes ; winsomeness; X-appeal ; yumph .
See also: carry-a-lot-of-heat ; carry-plenty-of-heat ; put-the-S.A.-in-U.S.A. ; turn-it-on ; turn-on-the-heat .
Quotes:
(1) Charles Panati. Sexy Origins and Intimate Things (1998): ' The most popular explanation for the link between fashion and eroticism, and rapid changes in styles, is the sex appeal theory, also known as the theory of shifting erogenous-zones . Proponents of the theory argue that the primary purpose of all womens fashion is the desire to continually reattract the opposite-sex . The driving force behind seasonal changes in styles is to arouse men sated by last seasons "look" to turn-on to a new "look." In todays sexually liberated and sex-saturated times, fashion is driven by the seduction principle. With so much sexual imagery in the media, men get sated quickly, and women must work hard to reseduce them with styles that continually shift the erogenous zone from breasts to bellies to backs to legs to hair to lips . Men, for their part, positively yearn to be reseduced, over and over again. All of this seduction, says the theory, is to fulfill the biological imperative to continue the species, even if the sexes thwart conception at every chance they get .'
(2) Charles Panati. Sexy Origins and Intimate Things (1998): ' Thanks to photography and film, Americans have created and worshiped more femme icons than all previous centuries combined. Each of our decades has produced several new images. For the most part, men dreamed up these images and named them, and women have worked hard to copy their shapes and costumes. If there is a single attribute that most of these modern images possess, its "sex appeal" - a relatively new and daring term in English. American men have categorized their women by sexual types and nicknamed them with suggestively playful tags. In centuries past, where a virtue-vice dichotomy prevailed, women came in only two types: good or bad , whores or madonnas, mothers or mistresses .'
(3) Jake Callahan (Lynne Overman) about Billy Flynn (Adolphe Menjou) in Roxie Hart (1942): ' Sex appeal rises from him like a cloud of steam .'
(4) Beaucaire (Bob Hope) in Monsieur Beaucaire (1946): ' When you've got it , you've got it . There's nothing you can do about it .'
(5) Junior (Bob Hope) and Ebeneezer (Paul E. Burns) speaking about Mike (Jane Russell) a performer in Son of Paleface (1952):-- Junior: ' She's really got it! '-- Ebeneezer: ' She's got what? '-- Junior: ' I don't know but if we could bottle it we could make a fortune .'
(6) Jim Scott (William Lundigan) in Love Nest (1951): ' I don't know what old Charlie's got, but I wish I could bottle it . We'd make a fortune .'
(7) Fred Amiel (Barry Sullivan) speaking of Jonathan Shields (Kirk Douglas) in The Bad and the Beautiful (1952): ' Jonathan is more than a man , he's an experience; and he's habit-forming. If they could ever bottle him, he'd outsell ginger ale .'
(8) Dorinda Durston (Holly Hunter) about Ted Baker (Brad Johnson) in Always (1989): ' He's too beautiful. He's too much twisted steel and sex appeal. I can't be with a guy who looks like I won him in a raffle .'
(9) Celeste Talbert (Sally Field) to Rose Schwartz (Whoopi Goldberg) in Soapdish (1991):
-- Celeste: ' Adam went home to his wife ... He went home to Pittsburgh .'
-- Rose: ' Dirty town .'
-- Celeste: ' Pittsburgh! Does that tell you anything about my appeal? '
(10) Chrissy (Rita Wilson) and Roberta (Rosie O'Donnell) looking at the magazine cover featuring Teeny Terrell (Melanie Griffith) in Now and Then (1995):
-- Chrissy: ' Can you believe this tramp? Now what is it that she has that gets people so excited? '
-- Roberta: ' Long legs, a tiny waist and perky breasts .'
(11) Han-Solo in Star Wars : ' She may not look like much, but she's got it where it counts, kid .'
(12) Sophia Loren: ' Sex appeal is 50% what you've got and 50% what people think you've got .'
(13) Blanche Du Bois (Vivien Leigh) to Stanley Kowalski (Marlon Brando) in A Streetcar Named Desire (1951): ' A woman's charm is fifty percent illusion .'
(14) Larry Burrows (James Belushi) and his father Harry (Pat Corley) watching a very beautiful girl go by in Mr. Destiny (1990):
-- Larry: ' Sometimes I get the distinct feeling I'm missing out on something .'
-- Harry: ' Well, what she's got she's got plenty you don't need .'
(15) Paula Pokrifki (Debra Winger) to Zach Mayo (Richard Gere) in An Officer and a Gentleman (1982): ' How can you resist? I'm like candy . (...) It's going to be very hard to get enough .'
(16) Mike Campbell (Mike Meyers) about Claudia Schiffer in Wayne's World (1992): ' She tested vey high on the strokability scale '.
(17) Sally Bowles (Liza Minnelli) in Cabaret (1972): ' Doesn't my body drive you wild with desire? '
(18) Amanda (Kelly Preston) and Cliff Godfrey (Andrew McCarthy) in Only You (1992):
-- Amanda : ' Do you find me attractive? '
-- Cliff: ' God! I'm sure you get catcalls from priests .'
(19) Rudyard Kipling (1965-1936), Traffics and Discoveries (1904): ' Tisn't beauty , so to speak, nor good talk necessarily. It's just IT. Some women'll stay in a man's memory if they once walk down a street .'
See Also: 120 in the shade, ad feminam, babette, ball of fire, barbecue, beddable, bedworthy, beefcake, beefcakes, carry a lot of heat, carry plenty of heat, cheesecake, come on, contrary sex, deadlier of the species, dissa and datta, eating stuff, erotic charm, es-ay, get together principle, the, Greek god, has-been, have a lot of what s/he's got, have it in a big way, have it in large gobs, have it in large helpings, have plenty of snap in her garter, have plenty of this and that, have plenty of what s/he's got, it, it and more, it and that, It girl, It-ness, ittiness, ittish, ittishness, itty, lunchmeat, makings, the, masculine quotient, mmph, MQ, myeh, nyeh, old stuff, the, oomph, prurient interest, pulchritude, pull, put the S.A. in U.S.A., runcible, S.A., SAM, scorcher, sex appeal, sex appealing, sex appealitty, sex apple, sex bunny, sex goddess, sex icon, sex stuff, sex symbol, sex voltage, sexed, sexicon, sexiness, sexobatics, sextraction, sextractive, sexual icon, sexually appealing, shaggable, Sheba, Sheik, sinfully handsome, sizzle, sizzler, skin, socks appeal, spark, sparker, squaw man, steamy, stuff, tasty, that certain something, that thing, thata, these and those, this and that, thisa and thata, transexion, turn it on, turn on the heat, umph, vamp, wasp waist, weaker vessel, the, what it takes, X-appeal, yumph
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