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erotic

UK/ɪˈɹɒtɪk/US/ɪˈɹɑtɪk/
adjectiveB2+Common in everyday speech and writing · #4,207 of 15,258neutral

Erotic means concerned with sexual desire. Erotic art, an erotic novel, erotic imagery.

It describes the intention as much as the content — a nude in a gallery is not erotic and the same image in another setting may be. The line between erotic and pornographic is drawn by taste and by law, and no definition has ever held. The Greek eros is sexual love.

Definitions of erotic

  1. 1adjectiveeroticConcerned with sexual desire.B2+

    “The film contains some erotic scenes and is not suitable for children.”

erotic is a quality of desire.

Where it comes from

Greek erotikos means of love, from eros, sexual love, the name of the god of desire.

  1. French

    érotique

  2. English, today

    erotic

Built from

  • ἔρως · Ancient Greek — sexual love

From French érotique. From French érotique, from Ancient Greek ἐρωτικός (“related to love”), from ἔρως (“sexual love”).

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA

Practise this word

erotic in the wild

  • Erotic literature and erotic photography have become genres in their own right.

    Erotica

  • Some eroge are primarily focused on erotic content, while others, such as Key's Kanon, only contain occasional scenes in an otherwise non-erotic work.

    Eroge

From Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0. These sentences were written by other people about their own subjects; they are here to show the word at work, not as anybody’s opinion.