Word.ws English Dictionary

thirst trap

thirst trap noun: a nonpornographic but sexually suggestive selfie or video posted on social media in order to elicit compliments or arouse thirst (sexual lust).

Noun

thirst trap (plural thirst traps)

  1. (Internet) A nonpornographic but sexually suggestive selfie or video posted on social media in order to elicit compliments or arouse thirst (sexual lust).
    • If you are successful, the person you are targeting will be tempted to comment. Might even actually comment. Might even “slide into your DMs.” If so, you have pulled off your very own thirst trap.2017 December 21, Valeriya Safronova, “Instagram Is Now a Dating Platform, Too. Here’s How It Works.”, in The New York Times, →ISSN
    • Posting a thirst trap is a great way to rake in a lot of likes on a photo. But as many Instagrammers have found, it’s also a great way to try and get out the vote.2018 November 6, Taylor Lorenz, “The Voting-Sticker Thirst Trap Is Here”, in The Atlantic, retrieved 13 Jan 2023

Examples of thirst trap in a sentence

  • In the lockdown era, however, thirst traps and nudes are not only making a glorious, unrepentant comeback, but are now a form of emboldened agency in Gen Z’s blossoming sexual liberation.2020 April 20, Ciara Gaffney, “Sex during lockdown: are we witnessing a cybersexual revolution?”, in The Guardian:
  • You can't put up a thirst trap with someone else in the background.” “Thirst trap?” Pen reached over and scooped the phone out of my hand.2021, Tagan Shepard, Swipe Right, Bella Books, →ISBN:
  • Henry Earls uses the beaux-arts backdrop of the New York Public Library for his TikTok thirst traps.2024 January 26, Alaina Demopoulos, “Books and looks: gen Z is ‘rediscovering’ the public library”, in The Guardian, →ISSN, image caption:

Forms of thirst trap

pluralthirst traps

Origin of thirst trap

From thirst (“sexual lust”) + trap.

Questions about thirst trap

What does thirst trap mean?
Thirst trap means a nonpornographic but sexually suggestive selfie or video posted on social media in order to elicit compliments or arouse thirst (sexual lust).
How do you use thirst trap in a sentence?
In the lockdown era, however, thirst traps and nudes are not only making a glorious, unrepentant comeback, but are now a form of emboldened agency in Gen Z’s blossoming sexual liberation.
What part of speech is thirst trap?
Thirst trap is a noun.
What is the plural of thirst trap?
The plural of thirst trap is thirst traps.

Words near thirst trap in the dictionary

  1. Thirsk
  2. Thirsks
  3. thirst
  4. thirst snake
  5. thirst snakes
  6. thirst trap
  7. thirst traps
  8. thirst-buster
  9. thirst-busters
  10. thirst-quenching
  11. thirsted

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: thirst trap (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Flame, not lame-thirst trap.wav.

Cite this entry: “thirst trap.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/thirst_trap. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.