promiscuous
Americanadjective
-
characterized by or involving indiscriminate mingling or association, especially having sexual relations with a number of partners on a casual basis.
- Synonyms:
- wild, abandoned, licentious
- Antonyms:
- chaste
-
consisting of parts, elements, or individuals of different kinds brought together without order.
-
indiscriminate; without discrimination; not selective.
- Synonyms:
- unthinking, thoughtless, random
- Antonyms:
- selective
adjective
-
indulging in casual and indiscriminate sexual relationships
-
consisting of a number of dissimilar parts or elements mingled in a confused or indiscriminate manner
-
indiscriminate in selection
-
casual or heedless
Related Words
See miscellaneous.
Other Word Forms
- hyperpromiscuous adjective
- hyperpromiscuously adverb
- hyperpromiscuousness noun
- nonpromiscuous adjective
- nonpromiscuously adverb
- nonpromiscuousness noun
- promiscuously adverb
- promiscuousness noun
- unpromiscuous adjective
- unpromiscuously adverb
- unpromiscuousness noun
Etymology
Origin of promiscuous
First recorded in 1595–1605; from Latin prōmiscuus “mixed up,” equivalent to prō- pro- 1 + misc(ēre) “to mix” + -uus adjective suffix; see mix, -ous
Explanation
The adjective promiscuous is often used pejoratively to refer to someone who has many romantic partners. However, the word can also be used in a general sense to mean "not limited, restrained, or restricted." If you're a promiscuous reader, you'll read just about anything — from biographies to science fiction to the back of the cereal box. Promiscuous is not limited to a romantic context. Long ago promiscuous described "a disorderly mixture of people and things," and shades of that original meaning linger. If a chef at an Italian restaurant is promiscuous, you might find him mixing ingredients from South America or Asia into his pasta. Carpet bombing as opposed to targeted invasion might be called a promiscuous use of military force.
Vocabulary lists containing promiscuous
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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.
Bacteria are also "promiscuous," easily exchanging genetic material.
From Salon • Apr. 24, 2025
Whereas the deer mouse is promiscuous -- even a single litter of pups can have four different fathers -- the oldfield mouse mates for life.
From Science Daily • May 15, 2024
But it hardly needs saying that our long and promiscuous use of fossil fuels is a disaster.
From Slate • Nov. 20, 2023
She had a difficult childhood, being placed as a teenager in Dublin in one of the notorious former Magdalene laundries, originally set up to incarcerate young girls deemed to be promiscuous.
From BBC • Jul. 27, 2023
The harmony is in meltdown because Wagner has used chromaticism, the promiscuous use of all the subdivisions in the scale, to put you in an unsettling place.
From "The Story of Music" by Howard Goodall
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.
