Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • adjective Very humid and hot.
  • adjective Extremely hot; torrid.
  • adjective Expressing sexual desire.
  • adjective Arousing sexual desire.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • Giving forth great or oppressive heat.
  • Very hot and moist; heated, close, stagnant, and heavy: as, a sultry atmosphere; a sultry night.
  • Associated with oppressive heat.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • adjective Very hot, burning, and oppressive.
  • adjective Very hot and humid, or hot, close, stagnant, and oppressive, as air.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • adjective weather hot and humid
  • adjective very hot and dry; torrid
  • adjective sexually enthralling

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • adjective characterized by oppressive heat and humidity
  • adjective sexually exciting or gratifying

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[From obsolete sulter, to swelter, possibly alteration of swelter.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

Probably from the verb swelter.

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Examples

  • He tells her that, in pitching the show to WNET, he called her "sultry"-"but I said 'smart' also"-and she lights up.

    Slate Magazine Troy Patterson 2011

  • We enjoyed the cool breezes, and the fresh trout from the river, and pitied our friends in sultry Shemeroon.

    Glimpses of Life and Manners in Persia 1856

  • Mysterious and aloof, he captures Luce Price’s attention from the moment she sees him on her first day at the Sword & Cross boarding school in sultry Savannah, Georgia.

    WEEKLY BOOK RELEASES FOR DECEMBER 6TH | Open Society Book Club Discussions and Reviews 2009

  • Authored by Jacques Polge and Chris Sheldrake, it is described as a sultry floral-oriental fragrance with notes of mandarin, pimento, rose, carnation, coriander, chocolate, sandalwood, incense and patchouli.

    Archive 2007-04-01 Marina Geigert 2007

  • Daddy Billy—also known as Reverend Billy, Outlaw Billy, and, on rare occasions, Billy Boi—had taught me how it felt to call a lover “Daddy,” and then infused the word with sultry power.

    The Best American Erotica 2006 Edited by Susie Bright 2006

  • Daddy Billy—also known as Reverend Billy, Outlaw Billy, and, on rare occasions, Billy Boi—had taught me how it felt to call a lover “Daddy,” and then infused the word with sultry power.

    The Best American Erotica 2006 Edited by Susie Bright 2006

  • Because her expression could only be called sultry, with a knowing smile curving those pouting, kissable lips, and her eyes, those wonderful golden eyes, half closed as if in arousal.

    Pregnant by the Millionaire Mortimer, Carole 2006

  • It was hot and sultry, which is rare in an English June.

    Night and Morning, Volume 1 Edward Bulwer Lytton Lytton 1838

  • Described as sultry and glamorous, Wake never traveled anywhere without her Chanel lipstick and a favorite red, satin pillow.

    NPR Topics: News 2011

  • The Greeks started the whole thing by calling sultry summer weather "Dog Days," blaming it on the brightest star in the sky besides the Sun, Sirius, also known as the

    timesunion.com: Siena Women's Basketball 2010

Comments

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  • sultry computer voice

    December 25, 2010