Word.ws English Dictionary

sexual

Syllables: sex·ual/sɛk.ʃuː.əl//sɛk.ʃu.əl/

sexual adjective: arising from the fact of being male or female; pertaining to sex or gender, or to the social relations between the sexes.

Adjective

sexual (comparative more sexual, superlative most sexual)

  1. Arising from the fact of being male or female; pertaining to sex or gender, or to the social relations between the sexes.
    • Women face sexual discrimination in the workplace.
  2. Capable of sexual reproduction; sexed, sexuate.
  3. Pertaining to sexual intercourse or other intimate physical contact.
    • Giving oral sex is my favorite sexual act.
    • The church was tighening up on matters sexual. Until the middle of the tenth century it had been quite routine for priests to be married.1999, Robert Lacey, Danny Danziger, The Year 1000: What life was like at the turn of The First Millennium, London: Abacus, published 2000, page 169
  4. Characterised by sexual feelings or behaviour; possessing sexuality.
    • She's a very sexual woman.
    • We don't often think of Jesus as a sexual person, but He certainly was not asexual. He was not just God on earth. He was fully human and […] He was sexual, single, and celibate.1994, Purity & passion, →ISBN, page 67
  5. Pertaining to sexuality as a cultural phenomenon; relating to sexual behaviour or conduct.
    • a sexual innuendo
    • one's sexual preferences
  6. (rare) Experiencing sexual attraction; not asexual.
    • […] “You know, there are asexuals with sexual partners.” His ears flicked, and he grinned. “There's things both of us can try to do[…]”2016, Kyell Gold, Black Angel, Kyell Gold, →ISBN
    • Izzy tells me that at her high school the most useful distinction is not between heterosexuals and homosexuals but between those who are sexual and those who are not. The abstainers call themselves “aces,” short for “asexuals.”2017, T. T. Monday, Double Switch, Vintage Crime/Black Lizard, →ISBN, page 98
    Synonyms:
    allosexual
  7. (obsolete) Pertaining to the female sex.
    • [T]he inquiry is whether she have reason or not. If she have, which, for a moment, I will take for granted, she was not created merely to be the solace of man, and the sexual should not destroy the human character.1791 (date written), Mary Wollstonecraft, “Observations on the State of Degradation to which Woman is Reduced by Various Causes”, in A Vindication of the Rights of Woman: With Strictures on Political...
    Synonyms:
    feminine

Noun

sexual (plural sexuals)

  1. A species which reproduces by sexual rather than asexual reproduction, or a member of such a species.
    Synonyms:
    eusexual
    Antonyms:
    asexual
  2. A person who experiences sexual attraction, a person who has interest in or desire for sex (especially as contrasted with an asexual).
    • The findings suggest that asexuality is best conceptualized as a lack of sexual attraction; however, asexuals varied greatly in their experience of sexual response and behavior. Asexuals partnered with sexuals acknowledged having to 'negotiate' sexual activity.2012, Issues in Sexuality and Sexual Behavior Research: 2011 Edition, ScholarlyEditions, →ISBN
    • In this article we use absence of sexual attraction to others as a definition but recognise that this definition is contested. […] [A survey] was also advertised online (without explicitly mentioning asexuality in the advert), thus aiming to reach a mixture of asexuals and sexuals.2015, Mark Carrigan, Kristina Gupta, Todd G. Morrison, Asexuality and Sexual Normativity: An Anthology, Routledge, →ISBN, page 11
    Synonyms:
    allosexual
    Antonyms:
    asexual

sexual meaning in Hindi, Tamil, Urdu and Bengali

sexual in Hindi

sexual
लैंगिक laiṅgik, यौन yaun, लिंगी liṅgī
sexual; relating to sexual union
बैजिक baijik

sexual in Tamil

பாலியல், பால்வினை

sexual in Urdu

sexual; related to sex
جنسی jinsī

sexual in Bengali

sexual
যৌন joun
More languagesFewer languages
sexual in Telugu
లైంగిక laiṅgika
sexual in Malayalam
ലൈംഗിക laiṅgika
sexual in Sanskrit
बैजिक baijika
sexual in Nepali
लैङ्गिक laiṅgik
sexual in Pashto
جنسي jinsi
sexual in Arabic
جِنْسِيّ jinsiyy
sexual in Malay
seksual
sexual in Indonesian
seksual
sexual in Vietnamese
tình dục

Synonyms of sexual

Antonyms

Forms of sexual

Adjective
comparativemore sexual
superlativemost sexual
Noun
pluralsexuals

Origin of sexual

Borrowed from Latin sexuālis. By surface analysis, sex + -ual.

Words formed from sexual

Phrases with sexual

81 more phrasesFewer phrases

Words that rhyme with sexual

24 more rhymesFewer rhymes

Questions about sexual

What does sexual mean?
Sexual means arising from the fact of being male or female; pertaining to sex or gender, or to the social relations between the sexes.
What is sexual in Hindi?
Sexual in Hindi is लैंगिक (laiṅgik), यौन (yaun), लिंगी (liṅgī). See Sexual meaning in Hindi.
What part of speech is sexual?
Sexual can be an adjective or a noun.
How do you pronounce sexual?
Sexual is pronounced /sɛk.ʃuː.əl/ (UK).

Words near sexual in the dictionary

  1. sextuply
  2. sextupole
  3. sextupoles
  4. sextych
  5. sextychs
  6. sexual
  7. sexual abuse
  8. sexual abuses
  9. sexual act
  10. sexual acts
  11. sexual anorexia

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: sexual (page history and authors); बैजिक (Hindi) (page history and authors); sexual (Tamil Wiktionary) (page history and authors); جنسی (Urdu) (page history and authors); যৌন (Bengali) (page history and authors); లైంగిక (Telugu) (page history and authors); बैजिक (Sanskrit) (page history and authors); लैङ्गिक (Nepali) (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:

Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Scelultrix-sexual (without yod-coalescence).wav, en-us-sexual.ogg.

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