Chemistry. of or relating to an atom other than carbon, particularly in a cyclic compound.
Informal. heterosexual.
First recorded in 1930–35 hetero for def. 2; hetero def. 1 by shortening of heteroatom; hetero defs. 2, 3 by shortening of heterosexual; see -o
Combining form of Greek héteros the other of two, other, different
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
These days there’s no keeping Hollywood’s gay icons and hetero heartthrobs apart.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 14, 2026
Even among hetero couples who share progressive gender politics, the question of surnames is typically directed toward the bride: Will she take his name, or keep hers?
From Washington Post ● Nov. 22, 2022
The world of Navy SEALs is a very hetero male world.
From Slate ● Sep. 5, 2022
Frank and Andre — who get a paper-thin story line about adopting a child, by the way — are very loosely meant to serve as the gay conscience of a decidedly hetero production.
From New York Times ● Dec. 5, 2021
I really feel for this kid and the tough road he may have ahead of him if he likes anyone who isn’t a hetero girl.
From "What If It's Us" by Becky Albertalli and Adam Silvera
I had not known – had never considered – whether he was hetero- or homosexual, single or in a relationship.
From The Guardian ● Mar. 26, 2017
Whose sexuality isn't scary and muddled, hetero- or homo- or in between, as a teen or at middle age?
From Time Magazine Archive
Some of these hetero- styled plants are completely sterile with pollen taken from the same plant or from the same form.
From The Variation of Animals and Plants under Domestication — Volume 2 by Darwin, Charles
By midnight, Homoelectric, an evening of gently dislocated chaos for several generations of “homos, lesbos, heteros, don’t-knows”, is packed and Cowdrey is bouncing in the DJ booth.
From The Guardian ● Apr. 12, 2018
And the perniciousness of this idea that you can’t has been one of the all-time worst things that ever happened to heteros.
From Salon ● Jun. 27, 2012
And the perniciousness of this idea that you can’t has been one of the all time worst things that ever happened to heteros.
From Salon ● Jun. 27, 2012
He called straight people "the heteros," prided himself on his long lineage of male cheerleaders, and never -- in eight seasons -- showed regret.
From Salon ● May 9, 2011
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.
