ENGLISH
REFERENCE

locust

n.
C1 Advanced US //ˈɫoʊkəst// UK //lˈəʊkʌst// lo·cust Archaic Slang Vulgar

n. a person who is very attractive or has a lot of sexual appeal. It is a slang word that people use to describe someone who is very popular with the opposite sex.

n. a person, typically a man, who is highly attractive or sexually appealing.


SIMPLE

He is a real locust when it comes to women.

CONTEXTUAL

The new guy at the office is a total locust, and everyone is talking about how he looks.

COMPLEX

While some might find the term flattering, others argue that calling a man a locust reduces his character to a single physical attribute, ignoring his personality and intellect.

Origin

Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *lek-der.? Latin locusta Anglo-Norman locustebor. Middle English locuste English locust Inherited from Middle English locuste, locust, from Anglo-Norman locuste, Middle French locuste, and their source, Latin locustam (“locust, crustacean, lobster”, accusative of locusta). Doublet of langouste. Noun sense 3 (“kind of tree”), originally referring to the carob (compare locust bean), is based on the resemblance of the trees' beanlike seed pods to the insect and is likely a semantic loan from Ancient Greek ἀκρίς (akrís). Noun sense 5 (“mainlander”) is a semantic loan from Cantonese 蝗蟲 /蝗虫 (wong4 cung4), also meaning "locust".

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