Fashion dictionary
holosexual
What does holosexual mean?
Holosexual is a playful term for someone who really likes holographic fashion, especially nail polish finishes.
Where does holosexual come from?
The term holosexual was popularized by YouTube nail art blogger, Simply Nailogical. The blogger, who’s known as Cristine, coined the term to refer to her love of holographic nail polishes. Her earliest video with the phrase in the title was the August 2015 Nail polish collection: HOLOSEXUAL RIGHT HURRRR. The video featured all of Cristine’s nail polishes, many of which were holographic. While the first Urban Dictionary entry, from August 1, 2015, slightly predates this video, its definition is tagged #simplynailogical, suggesting the term does indeed originate with the YouTuber.
Holographic, frequently abbreviated by Simply Nailogical to holo, has a specific meaning in the context of nail polish. A holographic polish is one that scatters the light in such a way as to create a rainbow effect. Although the criteria for what is and isn’t a holographic polish aren’t fully defined, one definition suggests that if you squint at a glittery object and see a rainbow, it’s holographic and, therefore, fair game for the rainbow-loving holosexual.
As she gained more subscribers, Cristine started calling her followers holosexuals as well. The term saw a spike in interest around mid-2016 as its popularity spread.
Simply Nailogical isn’t the only person to coin a sense of the word holosexual, however. Before Simply Nailogical’s use of the term, holosexual had also been separately used to signify someone attracted to everything or to people’s inner selves rather than their outer appearance. Holosexual also appears in the writings of Native American author Gerald Vizenor, who used the term to convey a sense of erotic energy undifferentiated by gender. These instances of holosexual use the Greek prefix holo-, meaning “whole” or “complete,” which is also featured in the words holographic and hologram.
Simply Nailogical’s coinage may riff on other contemporary -sexual constructions like metrosexual and lumbersexual.
Examples of holosexual
Who uses holosexual?
Holosexual itself can be used as a noun, adjective, or even as a hashtag to call attention to the holographic properties of an item in the photo. Though it originally referred to holographic nail polish, the term can also be used in the context of clothing and accessories and other items with a rainbow finish.
Most people calling themselves holosexual mean they really like holographic products, but a few still use it more specifically to describe themselves as followers of Simply Nailogical.
Note
This is not meant to be a formal definition of holosexual like most terms we define on Dictionary.com, but is rather an informal word summary that hopefully touches upon the key aspects of the meaning and usage of holosexual that will help our users expand their word mastery.