bisexual
Americanadjective
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noting or relating to a person who is sexually or romantically attracted to people of more than one gender, sometimes understood to include attraction to one's own sex or gender and at least one other sex or gender.
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Biology.
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of both biological sexes.
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combining male and female organs in one individual.
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noun
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a person who is sexually or romantically attracted to people of more than one gender, sometimes understood to include attraction to one's own sex or gender and at least one other sex or gender.
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Biology. an animal or plant that has the reproductive organs of both biological sexes.
adjective
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sexually attracted by both men and women
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showing characteristics of both sexes
a bisexual personality
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(of some plants and animals) having both male and female reproductive organs
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of or relating to both sexes
noun
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a bisexual organism; a hermaphrodite
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a bisexual person
Sensitive Note
As with many other labels used to describe people, the adjective form ( a bisexual author ) is preferred over the noun form. The noun, while sometimes acceptable in the plural (a flag designed for bisexuals ), is often less acceptable in the singular ( a bisexual I work with), especially when not used for self-reference.
Commonly Confused
Bisexual is sometimes interpreted to mean romantic, emotional, or sexual attraction to exactly two genders, often but not always men and women. However, since at least the 1990s, many bisexual people have been using definitions that acknowledge attraction to more than two genders, including people who do not fit into the gender binary. For some speakers, the bi- in bisexual refers to a gender or genders that are the same as or similar to their own, and a gender or genders that are different from their own. For others, the bi- in bisexual is simply an etymological quirk, like the octo- in October, which is no longer the eighth month. The debate over the definition of bi- also extends to related labels such as pansexual and omnisexual. Pansexual, for example, is sometimes defined as attraction regardless of gender, and omnisexual as attraction to any gender but not regardless of gender. However, bisexual, pansexual, and omnisexual can all be accurately used to describe a person who is attracted to men, women, and other genders, and some speakers use these words interchangeably. Many factors may be involved in a person's choice of which label to use for their sexuality.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of bisexual
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
Some were dumped in Togo without documents, while others, including a bisexual Gambian man, were sent home, according to US court filings.
From Barron's ● Jul. 7, 2026
Six years ago, the transgender-rights movement won a landmark victory when the high court ruled that the Civil Rights Act’s prohibition on sex discrimination in the workplace extends to lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 30, 2026
He followed it with “The Soundtrack of My Life” in 2013 in which he revealed that he was bisexual.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 22, 2026
Naomi began to question whether monogamy was for her after she realised she was bisexual.
From BBC ● May 5, 2026
On Thursday after rehearsal, Cal very casually mentions that he’s bisexual.
From "Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda" by Becky Albertalli
Then again, on-screen bisexuals may just reflect demographic reality.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 14, 2026
Although Britain began decriminalising homosexuality for men in 1967, a ban on gay men, lesbians, bisexuals and transgender people serving in the military lasted until 2000.
From Barron's ● Oct. 27, 2025
In the days immediately following the riots, gay men, lesbians, and bisexuals organized the Gay Liberation Front to work alongside the Black Panthers, the Puerto Rican Young Lords, Women’s Liberation Movement, and student anti-war movements.
From Slate ● Apr. 7, 2025
A new University of Michigan-led study, scheduled for publication January 3 in the journal Science Advances, suggests that part of the explanation -- specifically for male bisexuals -- has to do with risk-taking behavior.
From Science Daily ● Jan. 3, 2024
The contrast with modern Europe is great; greater still in Anglo-America of our day, and greatest with the new sects which propose "biunes" and "bisexuals" and "women robed with the sun."
From The Book of the Thousand Nights and a Night — Volume 06 by Burton, Richard Francis, Sir
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
