affectional orientation

[uh-fek-shuh-nl awr-ee-uhn-tey-shuhn, ‐en‐]

noun

1. one's natural preference for a romantic partner of one gender or the other, or the absence of gender preference in a romantic relationship; one’s aromantic, biromantic, heteroromantic, homoromantic, or panromantic identity.

Word History and Origins

Origin of affectional orientation¹

First recorded in 1965–70

Example Sentences

When trans women such as Jenner or the Wachowskis, the illustrious film-making siblings, decline to identify as lesbian, they may be responding to a sense that their gender identity should be considered separately from their sexual or affectional orientation.

From The Guardian