like – imagine having that level of sort of…god-like power and wisdom and serenity to see above and thru the horniness
because as a guy cute isn’t in the first 100 adjectives i’d use
So, if you saw a man in a really nice outfit would you lean over to your lady friend and say “Check out THIS hottie?” Although she might find him attractive and be thinking the same thing, I imagine youd probably say “That’s a nice suit.”
I’m confused by the question… You know “cute” can mean attractive right? Cute doesn’t just refer to small and innocent things like puppies. Like if I see a woman I’m attracted to I might describe her as “cute”
Yeah this. Cute can be a catch all adjective I feel like and doesn’t have to be as explicit as OP is making it out to be.
OP must be 12
‘Cute’ is just a positive word saying the outfit’s nice. ‘Sexy’ is the pregnancy of the fashion world. Don’t tell someone they look sexy unless you’re really sure and maybe not even then. Not all women who are sexy are trying to look sexy, and ‘sexy’ means different things to different people.
As a cis-het woman I do not feel one ounce of sexual arousal when seeing a “hot” woman, although I can definitely acknowledge her striking beauty. It’s hardly “god-like power and wisdom and serenity” but simply chemistry.
They say the same thing about demented old men, so I’ve given up on thinking that I know what the word “cute” actually means.
English is a living language. That’s what it comes down to.
A living language is not limited to the dictionary and formal use.
This has benefits and drawbacks. One of the biggest drawbacks is that usage of words can be extremely imprecise and lead you misunderstandings of intended meaning. The flip side of that is that you can usually use words that are “close enough” and be understood anyway, which is a huge benefit.
Since that flexibility allows you to know that cute is at least an adjective that refers to the appearance of something, and is usually a positive usage, you can have the odds on your side if you assume the person saying it is complimenting the other person. That lets you use context to get closer to the intended meaning.
It even works with people that don’t have fluency in English. We native speakers can (with a little effort) usually get the gist of even very broken English and communicate despite the barrier by selecting synonyms until there’s understanding.
Now, in this case, you’ve run into slang usage that only loosely adheres to the dictionary usage.
Cute is used as a synonym for words that convey the meaning meaning of someone being sexually or romantically attractive. This can be with or without the meaning of the target of the word being cute in a more literal sense. People can even be cute and sexy or hot at the same time.
And that’s likely what the people you’re hearing intend. That the outfit is attractive and likely to draw positive attention. While not a great choice for some outfits that you may think of as sexy, it is within common usage of the word, you just likely haven’t run into it in other circumstances before. It isn’t just women that use it for women’s clothing, men will sometimes use it that way too, though it is less common.
Now, in this case, you’ve run into slang usage that only loosely adheres to the dictionary usage.
Honestly, I think this usage is very much the dictionary sense of “appealing in a pretty or endearing way”. “cute” covers a range of attractiveness or appeal in a way that applies across the spectrum of more specific compliments. It’s a safe complement to use, no-one is likely to be offended where “sexy” or “hot” is more loaded and explicit.
It’s also a more implied/less explicit way to say “sexy” (e.g. that’s a cute guy) and can also apply to non-sexualized things like babies and cats so again, it’s a safer choice.
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And the award for creepiest use of quotation marks goes to…
Maybe they don’t see the same thing you do.
Maybe they don’t want to acknowledge how good looking this person is.
Then why (would they) comment at all?
Compliments are nice.
Wild to me too. But the current cultural lingo has driven “cute” into the ground. Just frame it as they’re acknowledging the outfit whether or not they realize how appropriate it is.
