Pansexual
adj, noun ·Uncommon ·Advanced level
Definitions
- 1 Someone who is attracted to all types of people regardless of gender.
- 2 a person who participates in (or is open to) sexual activities of many kinds wordnet
- 1 Sexually attracted to people regardless of gender. not-comparable
"Karen and Carlos are definitely pansexual people who have paired off to have this child, and this seems real and good to them now. When I had been with Karen, she had floated through several gay relationships, […] all my friends had been what I would call pansexual, avoiding the older term bisexual, which is meaningless when you can count more than two sexes."
- 2 Sexually attracted to everyone. not-comparable
"To the end he [Walt Whitman] denied that he was homosexual; his writings are pansexual, finding carnal ripeness in the soul, in nature, as well as in men and women."
- 3 Welcoming people of all sexual orientations. not-comparable
"We like to attend pansexual group sex parties, which means that attendees may identify as gay or lesbian or bisexual or hetero or transgendered, but are generally comfortable and happy to play side-by-side with people whose desires may be entirely different than their own."
- 4 Pertaining to the psychological theory of pansexualism. not-comparable
Example
More examples"The term "pansexual" has recently become a popular alternative to "bisexual.""
Etymology
From pan- + -sexual. First attested in 1926 (with pansexualism attested since 1917), as a descriptor of the psychological theory that all human activity is based on sexuality. Used to describe a sexual orientation since at least the 1970s.
Related phrases
More for "pansexual"
Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.