suggestive
/səˈdʒɛstɪv
/adjective
1Tending to suggest an idea: there were various suggestive pieces of evidence...
- Another suggestive piece of evidence is comparison with dogs that remain on the other side of the long vanished Asia-North America land connection.
- The regulations adopted in Shanghai will provide suggestive ideas for national AIDS legislation.
- Both nonspecialists and specialists in Tillich's theology will find here ideas suggestive for contemporary teaching and preaching.
1.1Indicative or evocative: flavours suggestive of coffee and blackberry...
- These indications were suggestive of six previous hybridization events between the two native carnivores.
- Diagnostic genetic testing refers to the use of a gene test in a patient who has symptoms suggestive of Huntington's disease, with or without a family history.
- Electrolyte levels should be monitored, and patients should report any signs or symptoms suggestive of electrolyte imbalance.
Synonyms
redolent, evocative, reminiscent;
characteristic, indicative, symptomatic, typical;
peculiar to, exclusive to
1.2Making someone think of sexual matters: a suggestive remark...
- A driver who left a woman passenger terror stricken when he drove her past her home also lost his licence, as did a driver who made sexually suggestive remarks to a passenger.
- She describes these rages as often provoked by strangers on the street who whistle at her or make some sexually suggestive remark.
- Explicitly sexual lyrics and suggestive dancing have sparked scathing newspaper columns and local judges have banned minors from attending the dances.
Synonyms
indecent, indelicate, improper, unseemly, titillating, provocative, sexual, sexy, off colour, smutty, dirty, ribald, bawdy, racy, blue, risqué, juicy, lewd, vulgar, coarse, salacious, prurient
informal naughty, near the knuckle, spicy
Derivatives
suggestively
/ adverb ...- His boss can take even a hackneyed phrase and let it dangle suggestively in the air until a dozen meanings reveal themselves.
- Ghuroub, a suggestively Buddhist-like land, is where Fattouma meets a holy man who tries to prepare him for the journey to Gebel.
- Apparently nothing says mobile business data services like two hot chicks suggestively gazing into a cellphone.
suggestiveness
- Many of the pictures here failed to be included in the calendars simply because they crossed a subtle line - one that went beyond suggestiveness into the realm of erotica.
- Indeed, the lines of his drawings are often minimal and suggestive, forcing the viewer to focus on the object to imagine the undrawn lines; their very suggestiveness creates essence.
- Clifton thinks it is because burlesque offers ‘the kind of suggestiveness that women appreciate.’