sexual orientation

American  

[sek-shoo-uhl awr-ee-uhn-tey-shuhn, ‐en‐] / ˈsɛk ʃu əl ˌɔr i ənˈteɪ ʃən, ‐ɛn‐ /

noun

sexual orientations plural

1. one's inherent attraction to a sexual partner of a certain gender, or the absence of gender preference in a sexual relationship; one’s identity as asexual, bisexual, heterosexual, gay, pansexual, etc.

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sexual orientation Cultural  

1. Preference for sexual activity with people of the opposite sex, the same sex, or both. (See bisexuality, heterosexuality, and homosexuality.)

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Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• sexual orientations
  plural

Etymology

Origin of sexual orientation

First recorded in 1990–95

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

sexual orientation

Clayton County, a 2020 Supreme Court decision that established workplace discrimination protections based on sexual orientation and gender identity.

From Salon ● Jul. 15, 2026

Clayton County, which held that Title VII of the Civil Rights Act protects against employment discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity.

From Slate ● Jul. 6, 2026

The bill would make it a criminal offence to provide conversion therapy, or to engage in coercive conversion behaviour, external with the goal of changing a person's sexual orientation or gender identity.

From BBC ● Jul. 4, 2026

Other research confirms that “male sexual orientation is expressed on a continuum rather than dichotomously,” as one 2020 study put it.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 14, 2026

From our much more broadminded twenty-first-century North American viewpoint, it’s important to remember that identifying yourself as male or female doesn’t necessarily have anything to do with your sexual orientation.

From "A Thousand Sisters" by Elizabeth Wein