heterosexual
Language: English
Part of speech: adj
Pronunciation: ipa: /ˌhɛtəɹəˈsɛkʃuəl/
ipa: /ˌhɛtəɹoʊˈsɛkʃuəl/
ipa: /ˌhɛtəɹəˈsɛkʃuəl/
ipa: /ˌhɛtɹəˈsɛkʃuəl/
Forms: form: more heterosexual
form: most heterosexual
Etymology: From hetero- + -sexual. Earliest citation from 1892, in C.G. Craddock's translation of Krafft-Ebbing's Psychopathia Sexualis.
Senses: examples: text: 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.
ref: 2021 November 17, Thai PBS, “Thai charter court rules that only heterosexual marriages are constitutional”, in Thai PBS World, Bangkok: Thai Public Broadcasting Service, retrieved 17 Nov 2021:
glosses: Sexually attracted to members of the opposite sex.
raw_tags: of a person or other animal
examples: text: 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.
ref: 1983, Raymond J[oseph] Corsini, Anthony J[oseph] Marsella, Personality Theories, Research, & Assessment, Itasca, Ill.: F.E. Peacock Publishers, Inc., →ISBN, page 348:
text: On the average, the [bisexual] women’s first heterosexual attraction and experience (at 11.6 and 14.7 years) occurred before their first homosexual attraction and experience (at 16.9 and 21.4 years).
ref: 1994, Martin S[tephen] Weinberg, Colin J[ohn] Williams, Douglas W. Pryor, Dual Attraction: Understanding Bisexuality, New York, N.Y.; Oxford, Oxfordshire: Oxford University Press, →ISBN, page 43:
text: Attempts at eliminating bias against LGBTQ people through education, academically and clinically, often lead to inclusion practices that are “added-on”, i.e., a family therapy course discusses same-sex couples as an addendum lecture at the end of the course, instead of infusing the material throughout the course. Green and Mitchell (2008) ask their readers to imagine authoring an article entitled “Therapy with Heterosexual Couples.”
ref: 2015, Arlene Istar Lev, “Resilience in Lesbian and Gay Couples”, in Karen Skerrett, Karen Fergus, editors, Couple Resilience: Emerging Perspectives, Springer, →ISBN, part II (Resilient Processes and Applications to Specific Populations), page 46:
text: Mankeeping describes the emotional labor women end up doing in heterosexual relationships. It goes beyond remembering birthdays or coordinating social plans. It means being your partner’s one-man support system.
ref: 2025 June 20, Ashley Fike, “Mankeeping Is Why Women Are Done With Dating”, in VICE:
coordinate_terms: gay
homosexual
lesbian
same-sex
single-sex
glosses: Between two people of different sex.
raw_tags: of a romantic or sexual act or relationship
topics: medicine
sciences
glosses: Having a sexual desire for the opposite sex seen as unhealthy, including a proclivity for nonreproductive sex.
Synonyms: sense: sexually attracted to members of the opposite sex
word: straight
sense: sexually attracted to members of the opposite sex
word: hetero
topics: LGBT
sense: sexually attracted to members of the opposite sex
word: hetty
sense: sexually attracted to members of the opposite sex
word: other-sex
word: heterosexual
word: breeder
Hyponyms: heteroflexible
cishet
Coordinate terms: heteroromantic
Derived terms: anti-heterosexual
antiheterosexual
cisheterosexual
heterosexualism
heterosexualist
heterosexuality
heterosexualization
heterosexualize
heterosexually
heterosexualness
metrosexual
monoheterosexual
non-heterosexual
nonheterosexual
pseudoheterosexual
Related terms: word: heterosocial
word: heteroerotic
word: heterogenital
word: heterosexual person