risqué means slightly sexually suggestive; bordering on indelicate.
risqué is pronounced /ˈɹɪskeɪ/.
Why “risqué” is a great word
Bordering on or mildly suggestive of impropriety in a sexual manner. From the French *risqué* ("risky"), the past participle of *risquer* ("to risk"), from Italian *rischio* ("risk"), ultimately from Latin *resecō* ("to cut off"). Unlike "obscene," which bludgeons with explicit indecency, or "prurient," which leers with obsessive hunger, *risqué* occupies the elegant periphery of the taboo. It is the precise inch of ankle beneath a hemline, a knowing double entendre cloaked in polite conversation, the precisely angled shadow in a painting that renders nudity more arresting than full disclosure—a calculated flirtation with the precipice where the mind's eye, once provoked, requires no further assistance.
Etymology
Borrowed from French risqué (“risky”), an adjective use of the past participle of risquer (“to put at risk; to risk”), from risque (“risk”, noun) + -er (suffix forming infinitives of first-conjugation verbs). Risque is derived from Old Italian risco (“risk”) (modern Italian rischio), possibly a deverbal from resecare or from Vulgar Latin *resecum, both from Latin resecō (“to cut loose or off, etc.”), from re- (intensifying prefix) + secō (“to cut; to cut off”) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *sek- (“to cut; to cut off, sever”)).
adj
- Slightly sexually suggestive; bordering on indelicate.