horny

English Online Dictionary. What means horny‎? What does horny mean?

English

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈhɔːni/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /ˈhoɹni/
• Rhymes: -ɔː(ɹ)ni

Etymology 1

From Middle English horny, equivalent to horn +‎ -y. Compare German hornig. Compare also Dutch hoornachtig, Swedish hornaktig, Old English hyrniġ (“angular”).

Adjective

horny (comparative hornier, superlative horniest)

1. Hard or bony, like an animal's horn.

   Synonyms: callous, coarse, hardened, rough
2. Having the hard consistency and pale colour of an animal's horn.

   Synonym: (biology) ceratose
3. Having horns.

   Synonym: horned

Translations

Further reading

• “horny”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.
• “horny”, in Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster, 1996–present.
• “horny adj.”, in Green’s Dictionary of Slang, Jonathon Green, 2016–present

Etymology 2

From the phrase "having the horn", and similar phrases which were used to refer to male sexual arousal in the 18th century, later abbreviated to horn (a hard projection) +‎ -y (having the quality of); initially this referred to physical sexual response in males (the male erection being analogized as a "horn"), yet later was semantically generalized to refer not only to sexual arousal but also to sexual desire in both males and females.

Adjective

horny (comparative hornier, superlative horniest)

1. (slang, informal) Sexually aroused, with or without physical manifestation; experiencing a feeling of sexual desire.

   Synonyms: horned up, lustful, lusty, randy, toey, in heat; see also Thesaurus:randy

   That we are horny creatures is proven by the fact that the invention of video calling found us already having sex over the phone.

   - Mokokoma Mokhonoana

2. (slang, informal) Sexually arousing.

   Synonyms: see Thesaurus:sexy

   • 2003, Peep Show (TV series), Funeral (episode)

     Mark Corrigan: She [the dentist] should have to wear a mask for this kind of thing. Reagan or Batman or... actually she'd look pretty horny as Batman... Jesus, no, don't!

3. (of males, obsolete) In a state of physical sexual arousal: experiencing tentigo, tumescence of the penis as a result of sexual arousal.

   Synonyms: erect, excited, hard

Derived terms

• (sexually aroused): horniness, hornily

Descendants

• (sexually aroused): → Irish: adharcach (semantic loan)
• (sexually aroused): → Russian: хорни (xorni)
• (sexually aroused): → Saterland Frisian: honig

Translations

Belarusian

Adjective

horny

1. Łacinka (Belarusian Latin alphabet) spelling of го́рны (hórny)

Declension

This adjective needs an inflection-table template.