attractive

Attractive is an adjective describing something that draws interest or pleases the senses. It can refer to physical appearance, but also to objects, ideas, or places that are appealing. In everyday language, people may describe a person as attractive or an offer as attractive. The word derives from French attractif or Latin attractivus, from attrahere meaning “to draw toward.”

In psychology and biology, attractiveness often refers to perceived physical attractiveness. Research identifies several cues that tend to influence judgments across cultures: facial symmetry, averageness, and health signals such as clear skin. Among humans, certain proportions and cues—such as body shape ratios and features associated with youth—can contribute to perceived attractiveness, but there is substantial cultural variation, and individual preferences are strong. Attractiveness is not solely physical; personality, behavior, and context frequently shape judgments.

Social consequences: attractiveness can trigger halo effects, biases in social cognition, impacting impressions in dating, employment, and legal judgments. Cultural and historical variation: standards of attractiveness shift with time and culture; media representations can influence norms.

See also: physical attractiveness, beauty standards, halo effect.