Inspiring thread. Decided to make it multiple choice-and the NOTA option too.
Me, cute and adorable all the way.
I leave it to the female Dopers here to devise a similar poll for them.
Yes.
I like beautiful, but I’ll take pretty. Cute is close to being a turnoff. But sexy… every time. I’ve been around beautiful (as in, everyone in the restaurant turns around and says ‘Wow!’) women who didn’t do a damn thing for me, and my personal standards are such that I draw no real distinction on the scale between, say, young Karen Allen and young Sophia Loren (both just deadly).
But I’ve known a number of women who were mildly pretty to unremarkable in looks who just rang my bell like nothing else - so shimmeringly ***sexy ***that I could hardly think around them. One was a plain-ish, almost tomboyish French literature professor who attended an event and had much to discuss with me, and I started having to find reasons to distance myself from her - not because anything was going to happen (my wife was usually somewhere nearby), not because I was having embarrassing juvenile physical reactions (a little, okay) but because I just couldn’t seem to breathe while interacting with her. It makes be believe in Deltans and other Star Trek races that have killer pheromones.
This is probably the Oxytocin talking as I just started dating this girl but, sometimes she’s beautiful, sometimes she’s cute and sometimes (when I’m lucky) she’s damn sexy.
So, all of the above?
Eeeeeeee! Cute & sexy! Actually, cute is usually sexy… I’m only 5’9", so cute for me. 
Cute, for sure. There are tons of cute astrophysicists and the like; I’m not sure I’ve ever seen a beautiful one. But even just physically, it’s what I prefer.
The question is, what constitutes “cute”? (First, some Newsradio on the subject.) It’s mostly a “know it when I see it” deal, but I think there are certain attributes that tend to suggest cute as opposed to something else: glasses, relatively short hair, non-blonde hair (unless it’s really short), relatively short in stature, dressing casually (or at least non-glamorously), perkiness/hyperactivity … what am I missing?
I don’t think I can differentiate between the options.
Mixture of beautiful and cute.
To me “cute” is a facial look but it also implies being physically attractive to be on my radar. I think cute also implies alert, fun, happy, thoughtful. “Beautiful” is more of a physical description but it doesn’t say that one is attracted to a person. Also cute can lead to sexiness and ages well!
More the “independent and smart” thing for me.
Since it is a multiple-selection poll I voted for all five.
Preference only? Pretty and cute, definitely. I actually find sexy and beautiful a bit intimidating. Cute is probably the most approachable.
smart and funny
Cute is my preference. I like pretty, but it’s optional if you are cute enough. Beautiful gets to the point where you don’t look real.
Sexy isn’t optional, exactly, but it’s not a perpetual trait. If your sexiness is always on display, it’s just a bit offputting.
I will admit I like what I call “nerdy imperfections.” Like, for example, like Anna Kendrick’s nose. If she didn’t have it, I don’t think she’d be cute.
I prefer men. Sexy men.
Yeah, who wouldn’t vote for at least 4 of them? I didn’t know what the hell a NOTA was so I couldn’t vote for the last option.
Something else I didn’t think of. I could do a new poll with more factors, including those of a non-physical nature…
I like understated, where what you see first is plain and straightforward, and then a nuance here and a curve there and after awhile you’re all besotted with her appearance.
Cute with the caveat “with big tits”.
Cute. I define cute as like Cheryl Ladd, Valerie Bertinelli, Zooey Deschanel, and Meg Ryan.
Beautiful is nice but not as appealing to me. Beautiful girls are like Liz Taylor and Sofia Loren in their primes, Jaclyn Smith, and Jennifer Aniston.
Sexy girls try too hard. Marilyn Monroe, Farrah Fawcett come to mind.