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

Let her be true to her own glorious nature, and this attempt to unsex and discrown her will meet with the swift and terrible condemnation it deserves.

From True Woman, The A Series of Discourses by Fulton, Justin D.

Beat purer, heart! and higher,   Till God unsex thee on the spirit-shore,     To which, alone unsexing, purely aspire!

From Woman in the Ninteenth Century and Kindred Papers Relating to the Sphere, Condition and Duties, of Woman. by Fuller, Margaret

Many Socialists, in giving to woman equality with man as a wage-earner and voter, wish to unsex her completely.

From British Socialism An Examination of Its Doctrines, Policy, Aims and Practical Proposals by Barker, J. Ellis