demisexual

American  

[dem-ee-sek-shoo-uhl] / ˌdɛm iˈsɛk ʃu əl /

adjective

1. noting or relating to a person who is sexually attracted only to people with whom they already have an emotional bond.

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noun

1. a person who is sexually attracted only to people with whom they already have an emotional bond.

Etymology

Origin of demisexual

First recorded in 2005–10; demi- ( def. ) + sexual ( def. )

Example Sentences

My labels are demisexual and sapiosexual, or some combination of the two, which makes being attracted to someone when there is no intellectual or emotional spark improbable, if not impossible.

From Los Angeles Times • Nov. 29, 2024

Her description of herself as demisexual got a lot of viewers wondering what the term "demisexual" means.

From BBC • Nov. 20, 2024

However, that data didn’t include other people in the ace community who identify as demisexual or graysexual, and other data sets have suggested that the number could be higher.

From Salon • Mar. 16, 2024

Q. Not quite comparable: I am a nonbinary lesbian, and one of my closest friends is cis, straight, and demisexual.

From Slate • Jul. 13, 2020

I’m demisexual, an orientation I didn’t even know existed until I discovered the term on the internet after realizing I seem to spend extraordinarily less time thinking about sex than my peers do.

From New York Times • May 19, 2017