Meaning & use
horny
Last updated
Meanings
adjectivecomparableinformalslangvulgar
Feeling a strong wish for sexual activity.
Grammar: Used after a verb such as feel or be: he felt horny.
Patterns
- feel horny
- get horny
The character in the novel admits he is horny and lonely.
Teen films often joke about boys being horny.
The word is too crude for polite conversation.
adjectivebefore a nountechnical
Made of horn, or hard and rough like horn.
Grammar: Used before a noun in this older, literal sense: horny skin.
Patterns
- horny skin
The tortoise has a horny beak.
Years of walking barefoot left horny patches on his heels.
Word forms
| comparative | hornier |
|---|---|
| superlative | horniest |
Common combinations
- feel horny
- He admitted he felt horny.
- horny skin
- The horny skin on the foot was thick.
- horny beak
- The bird has a horny beak.
Synonyms and how they differ
Word family
- horn noun
- a hard growth on an animal's head
- horniness noun
- the state of being horny
Commonly confused: horny or horney?
horny vs horney
Horney is a misspelling; the standard spelling is horny.
Practice
Which sense of 'horny' is appropriate in a biology lesson about a turtle?
Choose one answer.
In science, 'horny' describes hard, hornlike material such as a beak. The slang sense would be crude and out of place.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “horny”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.