Etymologically
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sexy

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Pronunciation

Forms

sexy (invariable)[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from English sexy, an adjective recorded in English from 1928 and formed from sex.[2][3][4][1] The English noun comes from Old French sexe (“sex”), the source also of Italian sesso.[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

The first record is a remark by the novelist Michele Prisco in Il Borghese of 15 September 1950: Sai che noi napoletani siamo i ragazzi più sexy? (“Do you know that we Neapolitans are the sexiest boys?”).[2][5][4] Nocentini, Devoto–Oli and Sabatini–Coletti give 1959, and Zingarelli 1953.[3][6][7][8]

Semantic evolution

From people the word spread to clothes and poses, and in a 1966 interview in L'Europeo a man defends the vestito sexy for men too.[5][4] It was also applied to texts, pictures and shows of an erotic kind (film sexy), and Guido Piovene used it of books that pleased American readers.[5][7] Treccani also records it as a noun, il sexy, erotic content, as in the spread of sex in shows and in the press.[9] Italian formed the intensive supersexy.[1]

Timeline

  • 1928 – English sexy is recorded.[2]
  • 1950 – Michele Prisco uses sexy in Il Borghese.[2][4]
  • 1953 – Zingarelli's date for the word.[8]
  • 1959 – The date given by Nocentini and Devoto–Oli.[3][6]
  • 1966 – L'Europeo writes of the vestito sexy.[5]

Meanings

Adjective

  1. sexy, sexually attractive or provocative, of a person or of their clothes, manner or voice: Si era messa un vestito molto sexy per la festa.[4][6][7]
  2. erotic, of a film, show, picture or text: una rivista sexy.[4][6][7]

Word family

  • supersexy

Usage notes

Sexy is invariable (una ragazza sexy, foto sexy) and is pronounced /ˈsɛksi/.[4][1][6] Treccani also lists a noun use, il sexy, for erotic content.[9]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d Cortelazzo, Manlio; Zolli, Paolo (1999), Dizionario etimologico della lingua italiana, 2nd ed. by Manlio Cortelazzo and Michele A. Cortelazzo, Bologna: Zanichelli
  3. ^ a b c d Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
  4. ^ a b c d e f g De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
  5. ^ a b c d Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca
  6. ^ a b c d e Devoto, Giacomo; Oli, Gian Carlo; Serianni, Luca; Trifone, Maurizio (2026), Nuovo Devoto–Oli: il vocabolario dell'italiano contemporaneo, digital ed., Milano: Le Monnier
  7. ^ a b c d Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse
  8. ^ a b Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli
  9. ^ a b Vocabolario della lingua italiana Treccani (2011), Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana