Transvestism

noun

noun ·Rare ·Advanced level

Definitions

Noun
  1. 1
    The condition of being a transvestite. uncountable, usually

    "Transexualism. Where the compulsive urge reaches beyond female vestments, and becomes an urge for gender ("sex") change, transvestism becomes "transexualism." The term is misleading; actually, "transgenderism" is meant, because sexuality is not a major factor in primary transvestism. Psychologically, the transexual often differs from the simple cross-dresser; he is conscious at all times of a strong desire to be a woman, and the urge can be truly consuming."

  2. 2
    the practice of adopting the clothes or the manner or the sexual role of the opposite sex wordnet
  3. 3
    A paraphilia typically found in heterosexual males characterized by compulsively seeking and deriving sexual arousal from cross-dressing, especially if the urges and behavior cause the patient distress or social impairment. uncountable, usually
  4. 4
    sexual mimicry dated, uncountable, usually

Synonyms

All synonyms
transvestitismcross dressingcross-dressinggynomaniatransvesticismtransvestitism

Example

More examples

"She made two movies on the cultural history of transvestism."

Etymology

From transvest(ite) + -ism.

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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.