aphrodisiac

[ af-ruh-dee-ze-ak, -diz-ee-ak ]

adjective

1. Also aph·ro·di·si·a·cal [] arousing sexual desire.

noun

1. an aphrodisiac food, drug, potion, or other agent that arouses sexual desire.

aphrodisiac

/ ˌæfrəˈdɪzɪæk /

noun

1. a drug, food, etc, that excites sexual desire

adjective

1. exciting or heightening sexual desire

aphrodisiac

1. A substance or quality that excites sexual desire.

Notes

Aphrodisiacs are named after Aphrodite , the Greek goddess of love.

Other Words From

• anti·aphro·disi·ac adjective noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of aphrodisiac¹

1710–20; < Greek aphrodīsiak ós relating to love or desire, equivalent to aphrodī́si ( os ) of Aphrodite + -akos -ac

Word History and Origins

Origin of aphrodisiac¹

C18: from Greek aphrodisiakos, from aphrodisios belonging to Aphrodite

Example Sentences

Rather than thinking of sex as a sleep-inducer, think of healthy sleep as a powerful aphrodisiac.

From Time

In your instance, it seems like your powerlessness is an aphrodisiac.

From Ozy

Locally known as yarza gunbu, or “winter worm, summer grass,” it is regarded as a potent aphrodisiac, often fetching a higher price than gold, always with the insect still attached.

From Outside Online

Believed by the ancient Aztecs to be a powerful aphrodisiac, cacao and chocolate remain synonymous with romance.

From Popular-Science

It’s been said freshly unearthed truffles have the qualities of an aphrodisiac, adding to the myth and mystique that this is, as the ancients crowned it, the “food of the gods.”

From Fortune

But one artist in Miami has gone even further, creating pieces made from napalm and a rare aphrodisiac soda, Nexcite.

From The Daily Beast

Expensive real estate is an aphrodisiac for girls like Claire, Walter notes.

From The Daily Beast

So this must be the celebrity aphrodisiac I had been warned about.

From The Daily Beast

Power is an aphrodisiac, Henry Kissinger famously said, but it is clearly also a great skin cream.

From The Daily Beast

At this point, my biggest aphrodisiac is an apathetic attitude toward politics.

From The Daily Beast

Those three dead men on the thirteenth floor of that office building had acted like an aphrodisiac on Wilson Lamb.

From Project Gutenberg

Her person exhaled an aphrodisiac charm, which challenged and laid fast hold of the other sex.

From Project Gutenberg

Its flesh was said to promote longevity, to cure hydrophobia, and to be aphrodisiac.

From Project Gutenberg

It is said also to have an aphrodisiac operation, due to its powers as a cerebral excitor.

From Project Gutenberg

The flesh of these newts, reduced to ashes, is considered an efficacious aphrodisiac.

From Project Gutenberg