Word.ws English Dictionary

transgender

Syllables: trans·gen·derUK/tɹænzˈd͡ʒɛndə//ˌtɹænzˈd͡ʒɛndəɹ/

transgender adjective: of a person: having a gender (identity) which is different from one's assigned sex; that is, the identity of a trans man, trans woman, or someone non-binary, for example, agender, bigender, or third-gender.

transgender: of a person: having a gender (identity) which is different from one's assigned sex; that is, the...
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Adjective

transgender (not comparable)

  1. (broadly) Of a person: having a gender (identity) which is different from one's assigned sex; that is, the identity of a trans man, trans woman, or someone non-binary, for example, agender, bigender, or third-gender.
    • We have taken to the local radio station, to talk about transgender problems. Carol Fremont is working in this area, and by General Conference we should have some interesting insights and understandings to share regarding transgender persons.1978 December – 1979 January, J. J., “The Fellowship Family: News and Notes of MCC People and Events around the World”, in F. Jay Deacon, editor, The Gay Christian: A Journal of Theological...
    • Christine Jorgensen, the world's first highly publicized transsexual – or "trans-gender" patient – never planned to be famous because of her surgery.1979 May 3, Pierre Bowman, “Back in showbiz Christine Jorgensen”, in George Chaplin, editor, The Honolulu Advertiser (People Report Section), Honolulu, Hi.: Thurston Twigg-Smith, →ISSN, →OCLC, page...
    1. (broadly, strictly) Of a person: having a gender (identity) which is opposite from the sex one was assigned at birth: being assigned male but having a female gender, or vice versa (that is, not including a non-binary identity).
      • Gender identity is whether or not a person perceives him/herself to be a man or woman (see ‘man’ and ‘woman’). The problem arises when a male perceives himself to be a woman, and vise versa.^([sic – meaning vice versa]) Notice I said man or woman, and not male or female. The difference is...1988, Merissa Sherrill Lynn, “Definitions of Terms Commonly Used in the Transvestite–Transsexual Community”, in Diane Dixon, Jan Dixon, Veronica Brown, editors, The TV–TS Tapestry: The Journal for...
      • What is happening in the world at the time, restrictions or freedom in sex-role choices, or in access to clothing fabrics and styles—none of these have much influence on the transgender person’s desire to be the opposite sex.1990, Louis Sullivan, “Epilogue”, in From Female to Male: The Life of Jack Bee Garland, Boston, Mass.: Alyson Publications, →ISBN, page 174
  2. (broadly) Of a person: transgressing or not identifying with culturally conventional gender roles and categories of male or female.
    • I think the new punk rockers are going to be more androgynous, more bisexual, more transgender, more ethnically diverse and less willing to take shit than before, as well as less homophobic, racist, and sexist, not because it's politically correct, man, but because all of those things stink of a...1992 June, Howlin’ Mad Johann [pseudonym], “[Letter]”, in Maximum Rocknroll, number 109, San Francisco, Calif.: Maximum Rock’n’Roll, →ISSN, →OCLC, page [10], column 2
    • Less noticed, however, is that gender nonconformists have been working together, with some remarkable successes, to build a political movement. Their first step was to reclaim the power to name themselves: transgender is now the term most widely used, and it encompasses everyone from cross-dressers...2001 June 24, John Cloud, “Trans across America”, in Time, New York, N.Y.: Time Inc., →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 16 Mar 2024
  3. Of or pertaining to transgender people (adjective sense 1), or their experiences or identity.
    • We have taken to the local radio station, to talk about transgender problems.1978 December – 1979 January, J. J., “The Fellowship Family: News and Notes of MCC People and Events around the World”, in F. Jay Deacon, editor, The Gay Christian: A Journal of Theological...
    • After having lived much of our lives according to a socially accepted prescription, many of us come to realize that we have not been true to ourselves. As full-time or part-time transgenderists, we feel the need to improve the quality of life for ourselves by creating an environment around us which...1979, Nancy [pseudonym], “Feather Your Own Nest”, in Virginia Prince, editor, Transvestia, volume XVII, number 98, Los Angeles, Calif.: Chevalier Publications, →OCLC, archived from the original on 19...
  4. Of a space: intended primarily for transgender people.
    • Despite the significant HIV/AIDS risks faced by transgenders, we could locate targeted prevention programs in only a handful of locations throughout the country. […] In Boston, no AIDS prevention messages are posted at the primary drag queen and transgender bar.2001, Walter O. Bockting, Sheila Kirk, “Transgender Health and Social Service Needs in the Context of HIV Risk”, in Transgender and HIV: Risks, Prevention, and Care, New York, N.Y.: The Haworth...
    • The Las Vegas Lounge is the city's only transgender bar.2003, Connie Emerson, “Gay and Lesbian Visitors”, in Top 10 Las Vegas (DK Eyewitness Top 10 Travel Guides), 1st US edition, London; New York, N.Y.: Dorling Kindersley, →ISBN, page 128, column 2
  5. Of a space: available for use by transgender people, rather than only non-transgender people.
    • Group wants transgender bathrooms for UMASS [title]2002 October 2, Benjamin Gedan, “Group wants transgender bathrooms for UMASS”, in The Boston Globe, Boston, Mass.: The Globe Newspaper Co., →ISSN, →OCLC
    • Why the sudden outcry for transgender bathrooms? The answer is easy, the activists behind this movement are using a petty issue like bathrooms as a medium to throw their lifestyles in the face of every-day students.2002 November 26, Olaf Aprans, “Transgenderism”, in The Minuteman, Amherst, Mass.: The Minuteman, undergraduate students at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, →OCLC; quoted in Olga Gershenson...
  6. (dated) Synonym of crossgender (“across multiple genders”).
    • Of course some unhappiness is simply a transgender phenomenon. Realists learn to expect a day in which perhaps 40 to 80 per cent is made up of repetition of what was done the day before and the day before that. Any set of normal days with over 20 per cent of excitement in them would be...1967 March, John P. Leary, “Woman in American Society Today”, in Thought: A Review of Culture and Idea, volume XLII, number 164, Bronx, New York, N.Y.: Fordham University Press, →ISSN, →OCLC, page 116
    • Those are the winning entries in the Chicago Association of Business Communicators' contest to find pronouns to replace she and he [ey], him and her [em], his and hers [eir]. […] [C]ontest winner Christine M. Elverson of Skokie says her words are "transgender pronouns." She formed them by dropping...1975 August 23, Judie Black, “Ey has a word for it”, in Clayton Kirkpatrick, editor, Chicago Tribune (Tempo (1C) section), number 235, Chicago, Ill.: Tribune Publishing, →ISSN, →OCLC, page 2, columns...
    Synonyms:
    crossgender

Noun

transgender (usually uncountable, plural transgenders)

  1. (countable, offensive, often, usually) A transgender person
    • "If you understand trans-genders," she [Christine Jorgensen] says, choosing the word she prefers to transsexuals, "then you understand that gender is different than sexual preference. It doesn't have to do with bed partners, it has to do with identity." Jorgensen says she knows of some...1979 September 23, Jerry Parker, “A woman with no regrets”, in Stanley Green, editor, LI: Newsday’s Magazine for Long Island, Suffolk edition, Melville, N.Y.: Newsday Inc., →ISSN, →OCLC, page 18...
    • transgender—an individual who lives as a person of a gender different from the one society defines for that person's sex (e.g., male "transvestites" who wear women's clothing, hair styles and other body accoutrements, use "feminine" speech and body language, and identify with the gender category...[1989, Sue-Ellen Jacobs, Christine Roberts, “Sex, Sexuality, Gender, and Gender Variance”, in Sandra Morgen, editor, Gender and Anthropology: Critical Reviews for Research and Teaching, Washington...
    Synonyms:
    transgenderal
    1. (countable, offensive, often, uncountable, usually, preceded by the) Transgender people collectively.
  2. (rare, usually) Synonym of transgenderism (“the state of being transgender”).
    • In spite of not "rootin' and tootin'" as a trans-gender case, in recent years [Christine] Jorgensen has been a staple on the college lecture circuit, speaking – of course – about trans-gender and herself.1979 May 3, Pierre Bowman, “Back in showbiz Christine Jorgensen”, in George Chaplin, editor, The Honolulu Advertiser (People Report Section), Honolulu, Hi.: Thurston Twigg-Smith, →ISSN, →OCLC, page...
    • The Scientific Humanitarian Committee published a yearbook that reported on movement activities. It also documented literary, cross-cultural, cross-historical and scientific studies on same-sex love and transgender.2004 June 10, Leslie Feinberg, “The love that dared to speak its name”, in Workers World, New York, N.Y.: WW Publishers, →ISSN, →OCLC
    Synonyms:
    transgenderism

Verb

transgender (third-person singular simple present transgenders, present participle transgendering, simple past and past participle transgendered)

  1. (offensive, often, transitive, uncommon) To change the gender of (someone).
    • […] and one that is still dominated by male nominees, women nominees might be seen as either contributing to the regendering, or the transgendering, of the Cabinet.
      […]
      This chapter examines women secretaries-designate in terms of their contributions to regendering or transgendering a cabinet...2005, Sue Tolleson-Rinehart, Jyl J. Josephson, Gender and American Politics, →ISBN, pages 15 and 205
  2. (broadly, offensive, often, transitive, uncommon) To change the sex of (someone).

transgender meaning in Hindi, Tamil, Marathi and Urdu

transgender in Hindi

ट्रांसजेंडर, ट्रान्सजेंडर

transgender in Tamil

மருவிய பாலினம், மாறிய பாலினம், திருநங்கை, திருநம்பி, திருநர்

transgender in Marathi

ट्रान्सजेंडर

transgender in Urdu

transgender
خواجہ سرا xvāja sarā
More languagesFewer languages
transgender in Bengali
রূপান্তরিত লিঙ্গ rupantorito liṅgo
transgender in Telugu
ట్రాన్స్జెండర్, లింగమార్పిడి
transgender in Malayalam
ഭിന്നലിംഗർ bhinnaliṅgaṟ
transgender in Kannada
ಟ್ರಾನ್ಸ್ಜೆಂಡರ್, ತೃತೀಯಲಿಂಗಿ
transgender in Punjabi
ਟ੍ਰਾਂਸਜੈਂਡਰ, ਟ੍ਰਾਂਸਜੇਂਡਰ
transgender in Gujarati
ટ્રાન્સજેન્ડર, ટ્રાંસજેન્ડર
transgender in Odia
ଟ୍ରାନ୍ସଜେଣ୍ଡର, ଟ୍ରାନ୍ସଜେଣ୍ଡର୍
transgender in Nepali
पारलैङ्गिक व्यक्ति pārlaiṅgik vyakti
transgender in Arabic
مُتَحَوِّل جِنْس mutaḥawwil jins, مُتَحَوِّلَة جِنْس, عَابِر ʕābir, عَابِرَة ʕābira
transgender in Indonesian
transgender
transgender in Vietnamese
chuyển giới, hoán giới, đổi tính

Examples of transgender in a sentence

  • I've even caught someone staring down my top to see if I'm transgender.2010 March 3, Jessica Green, “I'm sorry, I'm not lesbian: My being a straight editor of Pink News has confused and angered some – but it...
  • But the inclusion of the word "trannie"—a pejorative, in some circles—in the title, and the film's parodic representation of transgender women, has offended many people.2010 April 7, Natasha Lennard, “City Room: Transgender film draws protests at festival site”, in The New York Times, New York, N.Y.: The...
  • But now, the German pop singer Petras is the first transgender woman to win a coveted Grammy in the Best Pop Duo/Group Performance category.2023 February 6, Stefan Dege, Louisa Schaefer, “Kim Petras: How the trans artist made history”, in Deutsche Welle, archived from the...
  • Gender identity is a ‘transgender’ issue and does not involve surgery, but almost always involves cross-dressing.1988, Merissa Sherrill Lynn, “Definitions of Terms Commonly Used in the Transvestite–Transsexual Community”, in Diane Dixon, Jan Dixon...

All 40 example sentences with transgender

Synonyms of transgender

Antonyms

All synonyms and antonyms of transgender

Forms of transgender

Adjective
alternative Internettransgener
alternative abbreviationxgender
alternative form (dated)trans-gender
Noun
pluraltransgenders
Verb
third-person singular presenttransgenders
present participletransgendering
past participletransgendered
pasttransgendered

Origin of transgender

The adjective sense is derived from trans- (“extending across, through, or over”) + gender, modelled after transsexual (adjective) and probably modified from transgenderism which was coined by the American psychiatrist John F. Oliven (1915–1975) in 1965; the terms transgender, transgenderal, transgendered, transgenderist, and similar terms arose in the decades after this. By the 1990s, the word transgender had acquired its current senses, and had also largely displaced the earlier term transsexual: see the usage notes. The noun and verb senses are derived from the adjective. Regarding noun sense 2 (“synonym of transgenderism”), compare transsex (noun).

Words formed from transgender

Words that rhyme with transgender

24 more rhymesFewer rhymes

Questions about transgender

What does transgender mean?
Transgender means of a person: having a gender (identity) which is different from one's assigned sex; that is, the identity of a trans man, trans woman, or someone non-binary, for example, agender, bigender, or third-gender.
What is transgender in Hindi?
Transgender in Hindi is ट्रांसजेंडर, ट्रान्सजेंडर. See Transgender meaning in Hindi.
How do you use transgender in a sentence?
I've even caught someone staring down my top to see if I'm transgender.
What part of speech is transgender?
Transgender can be an adjective, a noun or a verb.
How do you pronounce transgender?
Transgender is pronounced /tɹænzˈd͡ʒɛndə/ (UK).

Words near transgender in the dictionary

  1. transganglionic
  2. transganglionically
  3. transgastric
  4. transgay
  5. transgelin
  6. transgender
  7. transgender marriage
  8. transgenderal
  9. transgenderals
  10. transgendercide
  11. transgenderdom

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: transgender (page history and authors); transgender (Hindi, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); transgender (Tamil Wiktionary) (page history and authors); transgender (Marathi, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); خواجہ سرا (Urdu) (page history and authors); transgender (Telugu, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); transgender (Kannada, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); transgender (Punjabi, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); transgender (Gujarati, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); transgender (Odia, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license). 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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Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: En-us-transgender.ogg.

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