Sappho was a famous Lesbian poet.
Source: tatoeba (690874)
Lesbian
/ˈlɛz.bɪ.ən/
Synonyms for "lesbian" (66 found)
Ranked by relevance and common usage.
Closest matches (14)
Strong matches (19)
Related words (33)
homoerotichomophilehomosexualhomosexualisthoydeninvertmannishnancepansypathicpervertedpunkqueenqueerrompsapphicsapphisttomboytransvestitetribade
Show 2 more words
Adjective(1 words)
Noun(9 words)
homosexual womanidentity termlesbian individuallesbian memberlesbian personlesbos nativelesbos residenttribadewoman loving woman descriptor
Adjective(1 words)
Choosing the right synonym
- Closest matches in this entry: gay woman, ac-dc, amazon, amphierotic, androgyne.
- Sentence evidence is available for lesbian, so synonym choice can be checked against real usage rather than a flat word list.
- Ranking signals come from wordnet, opengloss, moby, derived_reverse, and related lexical sources.
Synonym selection checklist
- Match the part of speech before comparing meanings.
- Check whether the synonym changes intensity, formality, or emotional tone.
- Read the replacement inside the full sentence, not just beside "lesbian".
- Prefer the clearest word over the most unusual word when writing for speed or comprehension.
When not to replace "lesbian"
Keep "lesbian" when the sentence already sounds natural, when a synonym would add unintended emphasis, or when readers need the most familiar wording. A synonym should clarify or sharpen the message, not simply make the sentence look more varied.
If two options seem close, choose the one that best matches the audience and purpose of the sentence.
Replacement workflow
1. Preserve meaning
Choose a synonym only if it keeps the core idea of "lesbian" intact in the sentence you are editing.
2. Tune tone
Check whether the replacement sounds more formal, casual, emotional, technical, or forceful than the original word.
3. Re-read context
Read the full sentence after the swap. Keep the synonym only when the sentence becomes clearer or more precise.
Review note: Synonym lists are ranked with lexical data and reviewed for practical writing value. Use the comparison notes, sentence evidence, and source labels together; a high-ranking synonym can still be wrong when the audience, register, or grammar changes.
Final fit check
After choosing a replacement for "lesbian", read the sentence once for meaning and once for rhythm. The best synonym should feel natural in the full sentence, not only accurate in a word list.
If the synonym makes the sentence slower, vaguer, or more dramatic than intended, keep "lesbian" or choose a simpler alternative from the closest-match group.
Related word relations
OpenGloss and ConceptNet supply richer edges like generalizations, collocations, and derivations.
More general
17 entriesShowing 16 of 17 words.
More specific
10 entriesLesbos islanderLesbos nativebutch lesbianlesbian culturelesbian feminismlesbian fictionlesbian literaturelesbian politicslipstick lesbiansoft butch lesbian
Collocations
8 entrieslesbian communitylesbian couplelesbian culturelesbian literaturelesbian rightslesbian studieslipstick lesbiansoft butch lesbian
Inflections
3 entriesDerivations
4 entriessimilar
1 entriesTranslations
139 translations across 84 languages.
Abkhaz
1 entries- алесбиан noun (gay woman)
Adyghe
1 entries- шыпхъу noun (gay woman)
Afrikaans
2 entries- lesbiër noun (gay woman)
- lesbiërs noun (gay woman)
Albanian
1 entries- lesbo noun (gay woman)
Ancient Greek
1 entries- τριβάς noun (gay woman)
Arabic
3 entries- سِحَاقِيَّة noun (gay woman)
- ليزبيان noun (gay woman)
- لِيزْبِيَان noun (gay woman)
Armenian
1 entries- լեսբուհի noun (gay woman)
Azerbaijani
1 entries- lezbiyen noun (gay woman)
Basque
1 entries- lesbiana noun (gay woman)
Belarusian
2 entries- лесбі́йка noun (gay woman)
- лесбія́нка noun (gay woman)
Bengali
1 entries- লেসবিয়ান noun (gay woman)
Bikol Central
1 entries- papanay noun (gay woman)
Breton
1 entries- lesbian noun (gay woman)
Bulgarian
1 entries- лесби́йка noun (gay woman)
Catalan
1 entries- lesbiana noun (gay woman)
Chinese Cantonese
4 entries- 叻女 noun (gay woman)
- 基婆 noun (gay woman)
- 女同志 noun (gay woman)
- 女同性戀者 /女同性恋者 noun (gay woman)
Chinese Mandarin
4 entries- 女同 noun (gay woman)
- 女同志 noun (gay woman)
- 女同性戀 /女同性恋 noun (gay woman)
- 女同性戀者 /女同性恋者 noun (gay woman)
Czech
1 entries- lesbička noun (gay woman)
Danish
1 entries- lesbisk noun (gay woman)
Dutch
4 entries- lesbi noun (gay woman)
- lesbienne noun (gay woman)
- lesbienne noun (gay woman)
- lesbo noun (gay woman)
Esperanto
3 entries- lesbanino noun (gay woman)
- lesbo noun (gay woman)
- samseksemulino noun (gay woman)
Estonian
1 entries- lesbi noun (gay woman)
Faroese
1 entries- lesbisk noun (gay woman)
Finnish
1 entries- lesbo noun (gay woman)
Franc-Comtois
1 entries- froyèche noun (gay woman)
French
2 entries- gouine noun (gay woman)
- lesbienne noun (gay woman)
Galician
1 entries- lesbiana noun (gay woman)
Georgian
2 entries- ლესბიელი noun (gay woman)
- ლესბოსელი noun (gay woman)
German
3 entries- Homosexuelle noun (gay woman)
- Lesbe noun (gay woman)
- Lesbierin noun (gay woman)
Greek
1 entries- λεσβία noun (gay woman)
Greenlandic
2 entries- arnaqatiminik atoqateqartartoq noun (gay woman)
- arnaqatiminoortartoq noun (gay woman)
Haitian Creole
1 entries- lesbyèn noun (gay woman)
Hebrew
1 entries- לֶסבִּית noun (gay woman)
Hindi
1 entries- लेस्बियन noun (gay woman)
Hungarian
3 entries- leszbia noun (gay woman)
- leszbikus noun (gay woman)
- leszboszi noun (gay woman)
Icelandic
1 entries- lesbía noun (gay woman)
Ido
1 entries- lesbiano noun (gay woman)
Inari Sami
1 entries- lesbo noun (gay woman)
Interlingua
1 entries- lesbiana noun (gay woman)
Irish
1 entries- leispiach noun (gay woman)
Italian
1 entries- lesbica noun (gay woman)
Japanese
3 entries- レズ noun (gay woman)
- レズビアン noun (gay woman)
- 女性同性愛者 noun (gay woman)
Kazakh
2 entries- лесбиян noun (gay woman)
- лесбиянка noun (gay woman)
Khmer
4 entries- លេសបៀន noun (gay woman)
- ស្ដ្រីដែលប្រតិព័ទ្ធស្ដ្រីដូចគ្នា noun (gay woman)
- ស្ត្រីស្រឡាញ់ស្ត្រីដូចគ្នា noun (gay woman)
- ឡេសស្បៀន noun (gay woman)
Korean
2 entries- 레즈비언 noun (gay woman)
- 여성동성애자 noun (gay woman)
Kyrgyz
2 entries- лесбиян noun (gay woman)
- лесбиянка noun (gay woman)
Lao
1 entries- ຜູ້ຍິງຮັກຜູ້ຍິງ noun (gay woman)
Latin
1 entries- tribas noun (gay woman)
Latvian
1 entries- lesbiete noun (gay woman)
Lithuanian
1 entries- lesbietė noun (gay woman)
Luxembourgish
1 entries- Lesb noun (gay woman)
Macedonian
1 entries- ле́збејка noun (gay woman)
Maltese
1 entries- lesbjan noun (gay woman)
Marathi
1 entries- लेस्बियन noun (gay woman)
Mongolian
1 entries- лесбиян noun (gay woman)
Norman
1 entries- lesbienne noun (gay woman)
Northern Sami
1 entries- lesba noun (gay woman)
Norwegian Bokmål
1 entries- lesbe noun (gay woman)
Norwegian Nynorsk
1 entries- lesbe noun (gay woman)
Persian
1 entries- لزبین noun (gay woman)
Polish
1 entries- lesbijka noun (gay woman)
Portuguese
2 entries- lésbica noun (gay woman)
- sapatão noun (gay woman)
Romanian
2 entries- lesbi noun (gay woman)
- lesbiană noun (gay woman)
Russian
3 entries- ле́сби noun (gay woman)
- лесба noun (gay woman)
- лесбия́нка noun (gay woman)
Scottish Gaelic
1 entries- leasbach noun (gay woman)
Serbo-Croatian
4 entries- lezbejka noun (gay woman)
- lezbijka noun (gay woman)
- лезбејка noun (gay woman)
- лезбийка noun (gay woman)
Skolt Sami
1 entries- lesbo noun (gay woman)
Slovak
2 entries- lesba noun (gay woman)
- lesbička noun (gay woman)
Slovene
1 entries- lezbijka noun (gay woman)
Spanish
3 entries- bollera noun (gay woman)
- lesbiana noun (gay woman)
- leñadora noun (gay woman)
Swahili
1 entries- shoga noun (gay woman)
Swedish
2 entries- flata noun (gay woman)
- lesbisk noun (gay woman)
Tagalog
4 entries- lesbiyana noun (gay woman)
- lesbya noun (gay woman)
- tibo noun (gay woman)
- tomboy noun (gay woman)
Tamil
4 entries- அகனள் noun (gay woman)
- மகிழினி noun (gay woman)
- மாயிழை noun (gay woman)
- லெசுபியன் noun (gay woman)
Thai
2 entries- หญิงรักร่วมเพศ noun (gay woman)
- เลสเบียน noun (gay woman)
Turkish
3 entries- ablacı noun (gay woman)
- lezbiyen noun (gay woman)
- sevici noun (gay woman)
Turkmen
2 entries- lezbiýan noun (gay woman)
- lezbiýanka noun (gay woman)
Ukrainian
2 entries- лесбі́йка noun (gay woman)
- лесбія́нка noun (gay woman)
Urdu
1 entries- لسبین noun (gay woman)
Uzbek
1 entries- lesbianka noun (gay woman)
Vietnamese
1 entries- người đồng tính nữ noun (gay woman)
Welsh
1 entries- lesbiad noun (gay woman)
Yiddish
1 entries- לעזביאַנקע noun (gay woman)
Yoruba
1 entries- onífẹ̀ẹ́-obìnrin-sóbìnrin noun (gay woman)
Sample sentences
32 total sentences available.
Adoption for gay and lesbian parents remains a hotly contested issue in the United States.
Source: tatoeba (754825)
I like watching lesbian porn.
Source: tatoeba (777062)
I am lesbian.
Source: tatoeba (998832)
Showing 4 of 32 available sentences.
Common questions
What are the closest synonyms for "lesbian"?
Closest matches include gay woman, ac-dc, amazon, amphierotic, androgyne.
How should I check whether a synonym fits "lesbian"?
Compare the replacement against real sentence context. This entry includes sample sentences so you can check tone, grammar, and meaning before swapping words.