hebephilic
hebephilic adjective: relating to, or exhibiting hebephilia (a preference for adolescent girls).
Adjective
hebephilic (comparative more hebephilic, superlative most hebephilic)
- Relating to, or exhibiting hebephilia (a preference for adolescent girls)
- Hebephilic offenders (those who prefer adolescent girls) and ephebophilic offenders (those with a homosexual preference for adolescent boys) exhibit characteristics which parallel those of the pedophile.1980 Sexual Abuse of Children: Selected Readings page 30 (in chapter 7: "The Nature and Treatment of Male Sex Offenders" by Ronald M. Costell, M.D.)
- It is difficult to categorize juveniles who commit sex crimes against other children. Within this group there are hebephilic offenders who prefer adolescent females, ephebophilic offenders with a homosexual preference, and still others who appears generally pedophilic (Costell, 1980, p. 30).1987, Working with Violent Families: A Guide for Clinical and Legal Practitioners, page 187
Forms of hebephilic
| comparative | more hebephilic |
|---|---|
| superlative | most hebephilic |
Origin of hebephilic
From hebephilia + -ic.
Words formed from hebephilic
Questions about hebephilic
- What does hebephilic mean?
- Hebephilic means relating to, or exhibiting hebephilia (a preference for adolescent girls).
- What part of speech is hebephilic?
- Hebephilic is an adjective.
Words near hebephilic in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: hebephilic (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.
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Cite this entry: “hebephilic.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/hebephilic. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.