heterosexuality
Americannoun
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sexual desire or behavior directed toward people of the other binary gender.
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the state of being sexually attracted only to the other binary gender.
noun
Etymology
Origin of heterosexuality
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.
Taylor acknowledges that heteropessimism, a term used by Asa Seresin in a 2019 piece in The New Inquiry, isn’t the same as actually denying or refusing to engage with heterosexuality.
From Salon ● Jun. 3, 2026
Febos works to dismantle heteronormative stereotypes about love and sex in this book, quoting writer Sara Ahmed: “When you leave heterosexuality, you still live in a heterosexual world.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 3, 2025
In that movement, some Korean women are declaring they will "boycott" what they see as the four pillars of heterosexuality: dating, marriage, sex and childbirth.
From Salon ● Nov. 13, 2024
In the three decades since Martin's study, Almeling said, scholars and advocates have increasingly challenged the presumption of heterosexuality and the categorization of bodies as either male or female.
From Science Daily ● Oct. 1, 2023
On leaving the university his heterosexuality asserted itself normally.
From Studies in the Psychology of Sex, Volume 2 Sexual Inversion by Havelock Ellis
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.
