lesbian
lesbian
American
[lez-bee-uhn]
/ ˈlɛz bi ən /
noun
-
lesbians
plural
-
-
a woman who is sexually or romantically attracted to other women; a gay woman.
-
a woman who is sexually or romantically attracted exclusively to other women; a gay woman.
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Lesbian, an inhabitant of the island of Lesbos.
adjective
-
-
of, relating to, or being a woman who is sexually or romantically attracted to people of her own sex or gender.
-
of, relating to, or being a woman who is sexually or romantically attracted exclusively to people of her own sex or gender.
-
-
Lesbian, of or relating to Lesbos.
Lesbian
1
British
/ ˈlɛzbɪən /
noun
-
a native or inhabitant of Lesbos
-
the Aeolic dialect of Ancient Greek spoken in Lesbos
adjective
-
of or relating to Lesbos
-
of or relating to the poetry of Lesbos, esp that of Sappho
lesbian
2
British
/ ˈlɛzbɪən /
noun
adjective
lesbian
Cultural
Usage
What's the difference between lesbian and Sapphic? See gay ( def. ).
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of lesbian
First recorded in 1595–1605; from Latin Lesbi(us) “Lesbian” (from Greek Lésbios, equivalent to Lésb(os) “Lesbos” ( see Lesbos) + -ios adjective suffix) + -an; lesbian defs. 1, 3 allude to the poet Sappho of Lesbos, whose verse deals largely with her emotional relationships with other women
Explanation
A lesbian is a woman who is attracted to other women. Two married women are in a lesbian relationship. This is a word for women who are homosexual. Though homosexual women are often called gay, it's more common to call them lesbians. Lesbians are sexually attracted to other women. You can also use this word as an adjective. For example, a gay female director is a lesbian film maker. There could also be a book of lesbian fiction. This word comes from the name of the island of Lesbos, whose famous poet Sappho was believed to be a lesbian.
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:
To the best of their knowledge, they are the only openly lesbian and gay direct descendants of Jefferson and Hemings.
From Salon ● Jul. 27, 2026
Amanda Nunes, the greatest female MMA fighter of all time, is an out lesbian from Brazil.
From Slate ● Jun. 14, 2026
She was just coming out as a lesbian to her family, and recalls seeing a little girl with her two moms at a protest carrying a sign that read “My moms take me bowling.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 13, 2026
Playing on the latter’s name, this was the doing of Magic Mascs, an all-masc lesbian and translesbian revue, by sapphics for sapphics.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 2, 2026
“My sister, for one. Hell, my mother played sports in the fifties. Last time I checked, she wasn’t a lesbian, either.”
From "Ask the Passengers" by A.S. King
Lesbian and Gay History and Muslim Masculinities, absorbing everything my instructors had to say about “queerness”—until I learned what they actually meant by the term.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 2, 2026
Years later, such movements would also influence the development of the Black Lives Matter, Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, and Queer movements and the National Domestic Worker Alliance.
From Salon ● Apr. 18, 2025
“That was so unexpected and extraordinary and impressive,” he said last week, in a phone call from Texas, where he works as legal director of the San Francisco–based National Center for Lesbian Rights.
From Slate ● Jul. 29, 2024
In 1984 he was a keynote speaker at the National March for Lesbian and Gay Rights, which was held in San Francisco at the same time as the Democratic National Convention.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 6, 2024
The letter was from two groups that might have been expected to support O’Malley’s decision to charge Richard as an adult: the National Center for Lesbian Rights and the Transgender Law Center.
From "The 57 Bus" by Dashka Slater
Grace is now 34 and runs a charity, the Uganda Minority Shelters Consortium, which provides safe housing to gay men and lesbians across Uganda.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 22, 2026
Some Gen-Z lesbians have gushed that they are “so feral” over the 24-year-old actor, while others joked that they would hide all evidence of their lesbianism if they met Hudson in real life.
From Salon ● Feb. 13, 2026
Although Britain began decriminalising homosexuality for men in 1967, a ban on gay men, lesbians, bisexuals and transgender people serving in the military lasted until 2000.
From Barron's ● Oct. 27, 2025
With those comments, Rowling claims, Sturgeon "demonised and stigmatised" survivors of sexual trauma, lesbians, women with disabilities and "everyone concerned about safety, privacy, fairness and dignity for girls".
From BBC ● Aug. 15, 2025
Eventually I lose myself a little in his life, dancing along with Austin, William, Nicolas, and a few hundred other gays and lesbians when the parade organizers blast the Village People’s “In the Navy.”
From "Every Day" by David Levithan
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.
