Singer Ariana Grande says she was left feeling "sick and objectified" after a fan said to her boyfriend, "I see you hitting that."

Grande opened up about the experience on Wednesday (Dec 28) to her 43 million Twitter followers.

The 23-year-old singer said she and boyfriend Mac Miller had gone out to get food when a young fan of Miller's came up and started gushing over the rapper.

"He was loud and excited and by the time M was seated in the drivers seat he was literally almost in the car with us," she wrote.

"I thought all of this was cute and exciting until he said 'Ariana is sexy as hell man I see you, I see you hitting that!!!'"

"Hitting that?" Grande said, using an expletive.

"This may not seem like a big deal to some of you but I felt sick and objectified. I was also sitting right there when he said it (?)."

"I am not a piece of meat that a man gets to utilise for his pleasure," she said.

"I am an adult human being in a relationship with a man who treats me with love and respect. It hurts my heart that so many young people are so comfortable enough using these phrases and objectifying women with such ease."

The singer went on to say that these kinds of statements need to be discussed openly because they are "harmful."

Grande said she felt she needed to speak out to let others know that language like this is not OK and should not be tolerated.

"We need to share and be vocal when something makes us feel uncomfortable because if we don't, it will just continue. We are not objects or prizes we are QUEENS."

Grande was criticised on Twitter over her appearance and performances.

"Ariana Grande literally parades around mostly naked and then has the gall to complain about being objectified? Wow." said Twitter user Ariana Rowlands.

User Abby, meanwhile, observed sarcastically: "It's crazy how when you brand yourself as a sex symbol, people consider you a sex symbol..."

To all of which, Grande responded: