unsex

American  

[uhn-seks] / ʌnˈsɛks /

verb (used with object)

1. to render (an animal or person) unable to reproduce sexually, as by removing the testicles or ovaries.

   A gelding is a male horse that has been unsexed and cannot breed.

2. to deprive (oneself or another person) of the qualities or character considered typical or desirable for one's gender.

   Those against female suffrage claimed that the right to vote would unsex women, leaving them unable to care for their homes and children.

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unsex British  

/ ʌnˈsɛks /

verb

1. literary to deprive (a person) of the attributes of his or her sex, esp to make a woman more callous

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Etymology

Origin of unsex

First recorded in 1595–1605; un- ² + sex

Example Sentences

Lady Macbeth has no such qualms when she’s summoning evil spirits to unsex her in “Macbeth.”

From Los Angeles Times • Jan. 17, 2026

Going from unisex to unsex, The Lodge At Harvard Square, with 17 New England outlets, sells its women customers huge quantities of old-fashioned men's chino pants, whose seats rapidly become modishly baggy on distaff derri�res.

From Time Magazine Archive

That appalling invocation to the spirits of evil, to unsex her and fill her from the crown to the toe topfull of direst cruelty, tells the same tale of determination to crush the inward protest.

From Shakespearean Tragedy Lectures on Hamlet, Othello, King Lear, Macbeth by Bradley, A. C. (Andrew Cecil)

Beat purer, heart, and higher,    Till God unsex thee on the heavenly shore    Where unincarnate spirits purely aspire!

From Frederick Chopin, as a Man and Musician — Volume 1 by Niecks, Frederick

Come, come, you spirits That tend on mortal thoughts, unsex me here; And fill me from the crown to the toe, top full Of direst cruelty!

From Shakspere, Personal Recollections by Joyce, John A.