luscious

Reading level: hard

Estimated CEFR level: C2 — Proficiency

Estimated from word frequency; not an official CEFR classification.

Definition

  1. adjective having strong sexual appeal
  2. adjective extremely pleasing to the sense of taste

Etymology

From earlier lushious, lussyouse (“luscious, richly sweet, delicious”), a corruption of lustious, from lusty (“pleasant, delicious”) + -ous. Shakespeare uses both lush (short for lushious) and lusty in the same sense: "How lush and lusty the grass looks" (The Tempest ii. I.52). An alternative etymology connects luscious to a Middle English term: lucius, an alteration of licious, believed to be a shortening of delicious.

In classic literature

Synonyms

juicy, red-hot, toothsome, voluptuous

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