sexual orientation

American  

[sek-shoo-uhl awr-ee-uhn-tey-shuhn, ‐en‐] / ˈsɛk ʃu əl ˌɔr i ənˈteɪ ʃən, ‐ɛn‐ /

noun

sexual orientations plural

1. one's inherent attraction to a sexual partner of a certain gender, or the absence of gender preference in a sexual relationship; one’s identity as asexual, bisexual, heterosexual, gay, pansexual, etc.

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sexual orientation Cultural  

1. Preference for sexual activity with people of the opposite sex, the same sex, or both. (See bisexuality, heterosexuality, and homosexuality.)

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Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• sexual orientations
  plural

Etymology

Origin of sexual orientation

First recorded in 1990–95

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

sexual orientation

Clayton County, which held that Title VII of the Civil Rights Act protects against employment discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity.

From Slate ● Jul. 6, 2026

The bill would make it a criminal offence to provide conversion therapy, or to engage in coercive conversion behaviour, external with the goal of changing a person's sexual orientation or gender identity.

From BBC ● Jul. 4, 2026

Other research confirms that “male sexual orientation is expressed on a continuum rather than dichotomously,” as one 2020 study put it.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 14, 2026

State lawmakers passed the new measures in response to healthcare professionals who said that efforts to change a teenager’s sexual orientation were both ineffective and harmful.

From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 31, 2026

While race and sexual orientation are perfectly appropriate aspects of one’s identity to embrace, criminality for its own sake most certainly is not.

From "The New Jim Crow" by Michelle Alexander