sex up
Học thuậtThân thiện
Definition
- Verb:
- To make something more exciting, appealing, or interesting, often by adding sensational, exaggerated, or erotic elements: The core meaning is to enhance or alter something (like a story, report, or presentation) to make it more attractive, stimulating, or attention-grabbing, typically in a way that is not entirely truthful or is overly dramatic.
Usage
- This verb is transitive and often used in informal contexts, particularly in media, politics, and marketing.
- It implies a deliberate act of embellishment or distortion to increase appeal or impact.
- The object is typically a narrative, account, report, or piece of information.
Examples
- Verb:
- The journalist was accused of sexing up the article with unverified claims to attract more readers.
- They sexed up the annual report with glossy graphics and bold predictions to impress the investors.
- Politicians sometimes sex up their policy proposals with simplistic slogans.
Advanced Usage
- "to sex something up": This is the standard phrasal verb structure.
- The marketing team decided to sex the campaign up with a provocative new slogan.
Variants and Related Words
- Sexed-up (adjective): Describes something that has been made more exciting or appealing in this manner.
- The public was skeptical of the sexed-up intelligence dossier.
Synonyms
- Embellish: To make a story more interesting by adding details, often fictitious ones.
- Sensationalize: To present information in a way that provokes public interest or excitement, at the expense of accuracy.
- Spice up: To make something more exciting or interesting (a more general, less negative synonym).
Phrasal Verbs
- This term itself is a phrasal verb: to sex up.
Related Idioms
- To jazz something up: An informal idiom with a similar meaning of making something more exciting or attractive.
- We need to jazz up this presentation; it's too dry. (Compare to: We need to sex up this presentation.)
Verb
- give erotic character to or make more interesting
- eroticize the ads