Word.ws English Dictionary

Coolidge effect

Coolidge effect noun: a phenomenon in animal species whereby males (and to a lesser extent females) exhibit renewed sexual interest if introduced to new receptive sexual partners, even after cessation of sex with prior but still available sexual partners.

Noun

Coolidge effect (plural Coolidge effects)

  1. A phenomenon in animal species whereby males (and to a lesser extent females) exhibit renewed sexual interest if introduced to new receptive sexual partners, even after cessation of sex with prior but still available sexual partners.

Forms of Coolidge effect

pluralCoolidge effects

Origin of Coolidge effect

First used in a 1955 publication by behavioral endocrinologist Frank A. Beach, to whom it was suggested by a student, in reference to a joke about US president Calvin Coolidge and sexual promiscuity.

Questions about Coolidge effect

What does Coolidge effect mean?
Coolidge effect means a phenomenon in animal species whereby males (and to a lesser extent females) exhibit renewed sexual interest if introduced to new receptive sexual partners, even after cessation of sex with prior but still available sexual partners.
What part of speech is Coolidge effect?
Coolidge effect is a noun.
What is the plural of Coolidge effect?
The plural of Coolidge effect is Coolidge effects.

Words near Coolidge effect in the dictionary

  1. coolibah
  2. coolibahs
  3. coolibar
  4. coolibars
  5. Coolidge
  6. Coolidge effect
  7. Coolidge effects
  8. Coolidge tube
  9. Coolidge tubes
  10. Coolidgean
  11. Coolidgian

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: Coolidge effect (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

Last updated:

Cite this entry: “Coolidge effect.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/coolidge_effect. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.