Bombshell (slang)

Marilyn Monroe and Jane Russell
Brigitte Bardot in 1962
Hind Rostom

The term bombshell is a forerunner to the term "sex symbol" used to describe popular women regarded as very attractive.[1][2] The Online Etymology Dictionary by Douglas Harper attests the usage of the term in this meaning since 1942. Bombshell has a longer history in its other, more general figurative meaning of a "shattering or devastating thing or event" since 1860.[3]

  1. ^ "Definition of BOMBSHELL". www.merriam-webster.com.
  2. ^ "bombshell – Definition of bombshell in English by Oxford Dictionaries". Oxford Dictionaries – English. Archived from the original on August 3, 2013.
  3. ^ "Bombshell". Dictionary.reference.com. Retrieved 2012-08-20.