frigidity

American  

[fri-jid-i-tee] / frɪˈdʒɪd ɪ ti /

noun

1. the state or condition of being frigid.

2. (in women) inhibition, not caused by a physical disorder or medication, of sexual excitement during sexual activity.

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Other Word Forms

• nonfrigidity noun
• unfrigidity noun

Etymology

Origin of frigidity

1400–50; late Middle English frigidite coldness (< Middle French fregidité ) < Late Latin frīgiditās; frigid, -ity

Example Sentences

A lighthearted experience this is not; Ms. Schilinski recreates the harsh frigidity of exacting European filmmakers such as Michael Haneke and Ingmar Bergman without evincing the slightest interest in redemption or silver linings.

From The Wall Street Journal

With searing yet quiet familiarity, Victor derides the way trauma is handled with callous frigidity.

From Salon

But despite having arrived at the inner suburbs of the coming season, Friday offered few clues to the days of frost and frigidity that experience and meteorology have located in our not-far-off future.

From Washington Post

In front of these drawings at the Met, I fell in love with David again: with his intensity and his frigidity; with how, in his shadow, today’s “political” art looks as benign as patty-cake.

From New York Times

The same phenomenon may be causing abnormal spells of extreme heat and blasts of polar frigidity, because the jet stream winds that normally break up weather patterns and drive storm systems are weaker.

From Washington Post