horndog

See also: horn dog and horn-dog

English

Alternative forms

• horn dog, horn-dog

Etymology

From the sexual sense of horn (late 18c. slang expression to have the horn, from which came horny) +‎ dog (“sexually aggressive man”).

Pronunciation

• Audio (AU)

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Noun

horndog (plural horndogs)

1. (US, slang) A person (particularly a man) who is fixated on sex.

   Hypernym: hornball

   • 2003, Eric Alterman, What Liberal Media?‎^[1]:

     In addition, lest we forget, Clinton’s reputation as the world’s biggest horndog was by this time well known to all of us.

   • 2004, Christopher Moore, Bloodsucking Fiends‎^[2]:

     She jumped in his face and shouted, “Fuck off, horndog!” with such viciousness that he screamed and leaped back into the doorway, then meekly called “Sorry” after her as she passed.

   • 2005, Bill Pronzini, Nightcrawlers‎^[3]:

     He’s not a horndog. And he’s not gonna be anybody’s white man if he doesn’t pay attention.

   • 2023 October 6, Ryan Gilbey, quoting Stephen Kijak, “The double life of Rock Hudson: ‘Let’s be frank, he was a horndog!’”, in The Guardian‎^[4], →ISSN:

     “I wanted to explore the sexiness and fun of that world and show that some gay lives thrived and flourished,” says Kijak. “Let’s be frank about it: he was a horndog!”

Translations

man fixated on sex

• Finnish: kiimakolli, huoripukki (fi)
• French: queutard (fr) m, chaud lapin (fr) m
• German: geiler Bock m, Lustmolch (de) m
• Greek: καυλιάρης (el) m (kavliáris)
• Hebrew: חַרְמָן (he) m (kharmán)
• Japanese: ヤリチン (yarichin)
• Spanish: salido (es)
• Swedish: kåtbock (sv) c

Further reading

• Jonathon Green (2024) “horndog n.”, in Green’s Dictionary of Slang