libido
Americannoun
plural
libidos-
Psychoanalysis. all of the instinctual energies and desires that are derived from the id.
-
sexual instinct or sexual drive.
noun
-
psychoanal psychic energy emanating from the id
-
sexual urge or desire
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Libido is loosely used to mean sexual desire.
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of libido
First recorded in 1890–95; from Latin libīdō “desire, willfulness, lust,” akin to libēre “to be pleasing”
Explanation
Libido is a person's sexual desire. Once a year? Once a week? Once a day? There is no correct answer, because everyone's libido is different. However, you hope your partner's is similar to yours! Libido has only been a word for about 100 years, though the urge to have sex has been around, well, as long as we have. It is Latin for “desire, lust.” You may have heard that the libido changes over the course of a person's life, and that you can even "lose" it if you are, for example, depressed or taking certain medications. People often think famous psychoanalyst Sigmund Freud coined the term. It isn't true, though he did popularize it in his writings on sexual urges.
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.
Exes ask if my show Ad Libido is about them and I say no.
From The Guardian • Apr. 24, 2019
Libido, says Jung, but he uses the word differently from Freud: Jung's libido includes all psychic energy.
From Time Magazine Archive
We refuse any Cause, whether it be Sex or Libido or Elan Vital or ether or unit of force or perpetuum mobile or anything else.
From Fantasia of the Unconscious by Lawrence, D. H. (David Herbert)
My contention is that there are other means of studying the force which we call "Libido" besides that of noting its effects.
From The Journal of Abnormal Psychology, Volume 10 by Various
Libido is an expression taken from the theory of the emotions.
From Group Psychology and The Analysis of The Ego by Freud, Sigmund
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.
