Sultry
adj ·Moderate ·College level
Definitions
- 1 Hot and humid; sweltering.
"Other ſignes of the Hiues fullneſſe and readineſſe to ſwarm are at the Hiue-doore, […] Fourthly, their firſt lying forth in foggy and ſultrie mornings & euenings, & going in again when the aire is cleere."
- 2 Emitting great heat.
"The battlefield—an undulating, parched, and dusty expanse—is lying under the sultry sun of a July afternoon."
- 3 Sexually enthralling. figuratively
"When Chicanos think about us at all, they perpetuate the stereotypes. Gabacho depiction of us as emotionally unchecked, sultry women lusting after pale bodies is just an extension of the fantasy they have about all women. Such dishonest portrayals are why Chicanas are "breaking the silence," as Rita Sánchez calls it."
- 1 characterized by oppressive heat and humidity wordnet
- 2 sexually exciting or gratifying wordnet
Example
More examples"On a sultry night in August a new theatre opened for business."
Etymology
From sulter (“verb (obsolete), a variant of swelter”) + -y; compare sweltry.
More for "sultry"
Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.