Heterosexual
adj, noun ·Moderate ·College level
Definitions
- 1 A heterosexual person, or other heterosexual organism.
"The laws banning discrimination based on sexual orientation apply to all people, gay and straight alike. If an antistraight boss starts firing heterosexuals, they're protected."
- 2 a person having a sexual orientation to persons of the opposite sex wordnet
- 1 Sexually attracted to members of the opposite sex.
"Thai charter court rules that only heterosexual marriages are constitutional: Same-sex marriage in Thailand will have to wait, as the Constitutional Court ruled unanimously today (Wednesday) that Section 1448 of the Civil and Commercial Code, defining marriage as being a union between a man and a woman, is constitutional."
- 2 Between two people of different sex.
"Early Adolescence. This is the high school period between 14 and 17 years of age. This is a confusing and stressful period for the teenager, because sexual impulses are now quite strong in spite of societal sanctions against heterosexual activity."
- 3 Having a sexual desire for the opposite sex seen as unhealthy, including a proclivity for nonreproductive sex. obsolete
- 1 sexually attracted to members of the opposite sex wordnet
Example
More examples"Bonobos often use sexual behavior, sometimes homosexual, sometimes heterosexual, for social negotiation."
Etymology
From hetero- + -sexual. Earliest citation from 1892, in C.G. Craddock's translation of Krafft-Ebbing's Psychopathia Sexualis.
Related phrases
More for "heterosexual"
Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.