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.

---

Other Word Forms

• nonfrigidity noun
• unfrigidity noun

Etymology

Origin of frigidity

1400–50; late Middle English frigidite coldness (< Middle French fregidité ) < Late Latin frīgiditās; see 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 • Jan. 15, 2026

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 • Dec. 16, 2022

His depiction of Ian's cruel frigidity is a match by Foy's sharpness, as she trades the distant stateliness she brought to "The Crown" for fumes of aristocratic entitlement.

From Salon • Apr. 23, 2022

Webb’s sunshield is crucial to achieving that frigidity.

From Scientific American • Jan. 10, 2022

And then I realize: I have waited outside in the cold gray-lit car-exhausted frigidity and caused the possible broken bones in Gary's hand to hear a band that is, manifestly, not Neutral Milk Hotel.

From "Will Grayson, Will Grayson" by John Green and David Levithan