red-blooded

Adjective

red-blooded (not comparable)

1. (figuratively) Having a healthy vigor and spirit.
   • The carbon tax won acclaim from self-described socialists and red-blooded libertarians, Democratic senators and Republican secretaries of state, Elon Musk and Janet Yellen.2021 July 20, Robinson Meyer, “Carbon Tax, Beloved Policy to Fix Climate Change, Is Dead at 47”, in The Atlantic, archived from the original on 05 Aug 2021

   Synonyms:

   hearty, robust, vigorous, macho, red-blood

2. (figuratively) Having an active sex drive; lustful.
   • As one of my clients put it, 'I love my wife so much I'm so in love with her but we don't have sex, I only have sex three times a year and I'm a red blooded man I can't deal with that'.2017 November 11, Patrick Lion, “Sex worker who slept with more than 10,000 men answers questions women never dare to ask”, in The Mirror, archived from the original on 28 Nov 2017
   • A red-blooded American male who once scored with reality TV stars, he [Sean Duffy] is now a devoted dad with his own chicken coop and beehives, publicly pledging his commitment to his wife and their old Chrysler minivan.2025 June 23, Caroline Kitchener, “The MTV Reality Star in Trump’s Cabinet Who Wants You to Have More Kids”, in The New York Times, →ISSN, archived from the original on 02 Jul 2025

   Synonyms:

   virile, concupiscent

3. Used other than figuratively or idiomatically: see red, blooded.
   • In five tightly cropped close-ups, terra firma appears to be roiling, more like the surface of a stormy sea than anything you’d want to build a house on. Melted ice cream comes to mind, as does the flesh of red-blooded animals.2019 December 4, David Pagel, “Review: A photographer’s portraits of Iceland, in all of its epic, impossible beauty”, in Los Angeles Times, archived from the original on 15 Feb 2020