libido
Americannoun
-
Psychoanalysis. all of the instinctual energies and desires that are derived from the id.
-
sexual instinct or sexual drive.
noun
-
psychoanal psychic energy emanating from the id
-
sexual urge or desire
Discover More
Libido is loosely used to mean sexual desire.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of libido
First recorded in 1890–95; from Latin libīdō “desire, willfulness, lust,” akin to libēre “to be pleasing”
Explanation
Libido is a person's sexual desire. Once a year? Once a week? Once a day? There is no correct answer, because everyone's libido is different. However, you hope your partner's is similar to yours! Libido has only been a word for about 100 years, though the urge to have sex has been around, well, as long as we have. It is Latin for “desire, lust.” You may have heard that the libido changes over the course of a person's life, and that you can even "lose" it if you are, for example, depressed or taking certain medications. People often think famous psychoanalyst Sigmund Freud coined the term. It isn't true, though he did popularize it in his writings on sexual urges.
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:
Both Mills and Saxbe stress that men should be paying attention to symptoms of low testosterone — such as depression and low libido — rather than trying to reach or maintain an ideal number.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 10, 2026
The oral version of minoxidil can cause unwanted hair growth on the face and other areas of the body, while finasteride can dampen libido and lead to erectile dysfunction.
From MarketWatch ● Feb. 25, 2026
In reinventing the groundwater argument for the birth control pill, Heritage does highlight risks to women, including lowered libido, mood swings, infertility, heart attack, and stroke.
From Slate ● Nov. 11, 2025
For centuries, chocolate has been used as a medicine to treat a long list of diseases including anaemia, tuberculosis, gout and even low libido.
From Salon ● Mar. 28, 2024
The regression to infantile phobia is the bridge where the transformation of libido into fear is conveniently effected.
From A General Introduction to Psychoanalysis by Freud, Sigmund
We are not defined by our bellies or our libidos.
From Washington Times ● Jun. 11, 2023
Rich: Given the range of responses to this pandemic, it’s inevitable that some couples will find themselves with temporarily divergent libidos.
From Slate ● Apr. 23, 2020
But experts say neither Chinese nor Vietnamese traditional medicine ever viewed rhino horn as an aphrodisiac to boost flagging libidos.
From Scientific American ● Mar. 20, 2018
Her women are authority figures with sharp minds and potent libidos who are respected, even haughty members of the ruling elite, not maids or nurses or office workers.
From New York Times ● Sep. 18, 2014
In Williams', case, the childishness is to assume that he has devoted a life span of writing to the creation of a cartoon strip of regional ogres with which to titillate jaded libidos.
From Time Magazine Archive
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.
