heterosexual
Americanadjective
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of, relating to, or exhibiting heterosexuality, sexual desire or behavior directed toward people of the other binary gender.
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Biology. of or relating to different sexes.
heterosexual fraternal twins.
noun
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heterosexuals
plural
noun
adjective
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of heterosexual
Explanation
A heterosexual person is attracted to people of the opposite sex. Boys who like girls and women who like men are heterosexual. Being heterosexual has long been considered "normal" in our society. When you think of a married couple or parents, it's usually been a man and woman — in other words, a heterosexual couple. However, being heterosexual is only one sexual orientation. Other people are gay, or homosexual. Our culture is slowly starting to accept that heterosexuality isn't the only acceptable sexual orientation. Another word for heterosexual is straight.
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:
That meant LGBTQ+ and single people who historically had been shut out by definitions of infertility as a failure to conceive after six to 12 months of unprotected heterosexual intercourse.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 27, 2026
There was a 4% rise in the number of heterosexual people aged 50 and above in the same period.
From BBC ● Sep. 19, 2026
Classic romantic comedies might have convinced many viewers that these kinds of problems are relegated specifically to heterosexual culture.
From Salon ● Jul. 5, 2026
In part, this archetype, as Fiedler dubs it, reflects our literature’s recurrent failure to deal honestly with adult heterosexual love and its attendant responsibilities.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 22, 2026
And that person, at least in high-school heterosexual relationships, is definitely the girl.
From "An Abundance of Katherines" by John Green
During that four-decade stretch, it wasn’t just heterosexuals coming to our shores in search of a better life.
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 5, 2025
"I'm a married gay man and we adopted our son so we didn't have the normal route that most heterosexuals couples will have had into parenting," he said.
From BBC ● Sep. 30, 2024
The U-M analysis revealed that male heterosexuals who carry the genetic variants associated with bisexual behavior, which are known as BSB-associated alleles, father more children than average.
From Science Daily ● Jan. 3, 2024
While 69% of heterosexuals described their physical health as “good” or “excellent,” only half of their non-straight peers said the same.
From Washington Times ● Jun. 29, 2023
“Every night he introduced me with shining words to these walls of heterosexuals all over the world,” Anohni intoned, as a drummer in the park bashed away in the distance.
From New York Times ● Jun. 27, 2023
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.
