Ok, this question is for the ladies.

What does it mean when a woman tells you that you are handsome vs cute vs hot? I've never heard a woman tell me that I was hot but women tell me all of the time that I am handsome. So what does handsome mean to a woman? What is hot? And what is cute?

Thanks.

Handsome - mature and good looking.
Cute - Nice looking in a boyish looking way.
Hot- sexy

Hey homegirl - thanks for the response. Just a follow-up but how would a girl know you are mature just by your looks? Women have called me handsome without knowing my character at all and to know whether I was mature. For all they knew, I could've been a complete cut-up.

The look being mature, not necessarily you.
But it depends on the age of the girls/women you're asking about and also the age of the guy. I have rarely thought a young man (teen) to be handsome.

Handsome - mature and good looking.
Cute - Nice looking in a boyish looking way.
Hot- sexy

My sentiments exactly.

I think handsome is an age thing - cute when younger, handsome when older and distinguished.

I think handsome is also attitude, being well put together, confident, knowing "yourself."

No one can speak for all women - "we" can only speak for ourselves, and I think cute, handsome, anything else also depends on the age of the observer. My stepdaughters rave about a man's looks, and I usually just don't see the same thing. Ask a 20 year old woman which man is attractive (or what is attractive in a man) and then ask someone 30. I think you'll get two different answers.

As I said, I find good grooming, a man who carries himself well, is well dressed, someone who is successful, to be handsome.

As far as "handsome" also judging personal attributes such as intelligence and honesty - no, those are different things. "Handsome" in my eyes refers to the packaging, not the content.

Where are you that all these women are commenting on your looks?

Hi Judy - thanks for your comments. Perhaps it is the age of the observer that mostly dictates the use of the word handsome.

I get commented on by girls on dating sites, sometimes by girls that are friends of friends (they tell me through the grapevine), and once in awhile by coworkers. For example, a woman that I worked with years ago, we bumped into each other and she said: "hey handsome, how are you?" And yesterday a girl on a dating site said: "how are you, handsome?"

I suppose if one woman said it, it might not register with me but I hear it frequently enough that I thought to ask about the meaning of its use.

A standard, flippant line used by men is "Hi beautiful." My feeling? They either can't remember my name or that's how they address everyone.

And I would pay little attention to dating site idle conversation - I don't know that anyone has ever said, "Hey, you're really ugly" on a dating site.

If you want to know what people mean, ask them.

I once dated a man who called me sweetheart. I found it grating. I finally asked him if he called me sweetheart because he couldn't remember my name. He said, no, he addressed women whose name he couldn't remember as "honey."

Enough said about that.

I've never called a man hot. Probably because I don't like muscles and brawn and insanely masculine good looks. I don't like men who preen and strut their stuff and act like God's gift. Once in a while a man comes along who can pull it all off because he isn't into himself, like a Harrison Ford type.
Handsome is easy to say. 'Hi handsome' trips off the tongue. I can say that to any pleasing guy, even a not very good looking one, because a lot of it is attitude.
Cute is for guys that have a sweetness, while possibly also being good looking but not necessarily. Someone extra huggable and a touch of vulnerable. Those are the ones I have always been most attracted to. I just don't go for men who fit the mold for super good looks. Partly 'cause I'm no hot long-legged boobalicious babe myself.

I agree with you, Joy. I find self confidence to be enormously sexy, not just a pretty face and a 6 pack (12 pack? Some other pack)?