Sultry | Definition of sultry by Merriam-Webster

Full Definition of SULTRY

1

a : very hot and humid : sweltering <a sultry day>

b : burning hot : torrid <a sultry sun>

2

a : hot with passion or anger

b : exciting or capable of exciting strong sexual desire <sultry glances>

— sul·tri·ly \-trə-lē\ adverb

— sul·tri·ness \-trē-nəs\ noun

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In the one Manet Stephen owned, Young Woman Reclining in Spanish Costume (1862–1863), the plump young model provokes us with her sultry gaze, her awkward semi-recumbent position, her casually defiant cross-dressing in a male torero's shiny trousers, and the come-hither implication of her highlighted hands … —John Updike, New York Review of Books, 5 Oct. 2006
As the fireflies entertain humans all summer long with a magical light show, they are actually cruising the sultry nights in search of love. “Male fireflies fly around flashing their advertisement,” says evolutionary ecologist Sara Lewis of Tufts, one of the authors of the study, which appeared in the journal Science recently. —Betsy Mason, Orlando Sentinel, 22 July 2001
In an age when the gangsta rapper is king and pubescent boy and girl groups rule the charts with a tough … version of adolescent bubble-gum pop, Toni Braxton is an anomaly. Her sultry good looks, rich, husky contralto and ability to deliver a line with such mature conviction make her seem older, more experienced than her 26 years. —Gordon Chambers, Essence, April 1994
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