sexy Italian · revision 38233

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=1950, Michele Prisco|origins=fro sexe}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * /ˈsɛk.si/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''sexy''' (invariable)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[bor|en|sexy]], an adjective recorded in English from 1928 and formed from [[m|en|sex]].^(DELI 1999)^(Nocentini 2010)^(GRADIT 2003)^(Wiktionary) The English noun comes from [[fro|sexe|t=sex]], the source also of Italian [[sesso]].^(Nocentini 2010)

+

+ ==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?”).^(DELI 1999)^(GDLI)^(GRADIT 2003) Nocentini, Devoto–Oli and Sabatini–Coletti give 1959, and Zingarelli 1953.^(Nocentini 2010)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(Zingarelli 2010)

+

+ ==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.^(GDLI)^(GRADIT 2003) 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.^(GDLI)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026) Treccani also records it as a noun, ''il sexy'', erotic content, as in the spread of sex in shows and in the press.^(Treccani 2011) Italian formed the intensive ''supersexy''.^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1928 – English ''sexy'' is recorded.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1950 – Michele Prisco uses ''sexy'' in ''Il Borghese''.^(DELI 1999)^(GRADIT 2003)

+ * 1953 – Zingarelli's date for the word.^(Zingarelli 2010)

+ * 1959 – The date given by Nocentini and Devoto–Oli.^(Nocentini 2010)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)

+ * 1966 – ''L'Europeo'' writes of the ''vestito sexy''.^(GDLI)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Adjective===

+ # [[m|en|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.''^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)

+ # [[m|en|erotic]], of a film, show, picture or text: ''una rivista sexy''.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[supersexy]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[sesso]]

+ * [[en|sex]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ ''Sexy'' is invariable (''una ragazza sexy'', ''foto sexy'') and is pronounced /ˈsɛksi/.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Wiktionary)^(Devoto–Oli 2026) Treccani also lists a noun use, ''il sexy'', for erotic content.^(Treccani 2011)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}