sexualize

English

Alternative forms

• sexualise (chiefly British)

Etymology

From sexual +‎ -ize.

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).

   Children’s beauty pageants sexualize childhood.

   • 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.

2. (biology, transitive) To distinguish as belonging to separate sexes.

Antonyms

• desexualize

Derived terms

• sexualization

Translations

to make sexual

• Catalan: sexualitzar (ca)
• 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)

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