erotic means relating to or tending to arouse sexual desire or excitement. It carries an Arena rating of 1307, earned across 3 head-to-head judged battles.
Among words judged in Lexicurio's Arena, erotic ranks #331 of 17,052 for Most Elegant Words, #1,506 of 17,052 for Words That Escaped Their Books, #4,449 of 17,052 for Most Vivid Words, #7,338 of 17,052 for Most Malleable Words.
erotic is pronounced /ɪˈɹɑtɪk/.
Why “erotic” is a great word
Relating to or tending to arouse sexual desire or excitement. From French érotique (16th century), from Latin erōticus, from Greek erōtikos (“caused by passionate love, referring to love”), from erōs (genitive erōtos, “sexual love, desire”). Unlike “sensual,” which luxuriates in the broad feast of the senses, or “amatory,” which dwells in the romantic and affectional, erotic carries the specific voltage of the illicit glance, the charged silence, the deliberate brush of a hand. It is the heat of a palm sliding up a bare thigh in a darkened theater, the scent of sweat and skin in a narrow bed, the unspoken promise in a kiss that lingers too long—the body’s grammar of want, written in tremors and sighs, each sensation a word in a language older than speech.
adj
- Relating to or tending to arouse sexual desire or excitement.e.g.“erotic entertainment and services”
noun
- An amorous composition or poem.
Words closest in meaning
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