sexual tension

Proposed by a contributor, not yet supported by evidence.

Meaning · English

an unexpressed romantic or erotic attraction between people

Nghĩa · Tiếng Việt

sự thu hút lãng mạn hoặc gợi cảm không được thể hiện giữa người với người

Machine-translated — suggest a fix

Literally: physical or emotional strain related to sex
Where it’s used: Used Widespread English

Examples

The sexual tension between them was palpable.

AI-drafted example auto-approved by rule (illustrative, not a corpus attestation)

Sources & notes

Listed in Wiktionary’s “English idioms” category (retrieved 2026-07-29); definition pending editorial review. Definition drafted by AI (@cf/meta/llama-3.3-70b-instruct-fp8-fast) and auto-approved by rule on 2026-07-31; pending editor spot-check.

Common questions

What does “sexual tension” mean?

an unexpressed romantic or erotic attraction between people Literally: physical or emotional strain related to sex

Is “sexual tension” formal or informal?

No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.