unsex

[uhn-seks]

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.

unsex

/ ʌnˈsɛks /

verb

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

Word History and Origins

Origin of unsex¹

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

Example Sentences

While it’s commonly understood that Inanna-Ishtar was a goddess, in Sumerian, the word for god is unsexed, and third-person pronouns do not delineate male from female.

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Thus, since the 1970s, the law has endeavored to “unsex” parenting and care work.

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The cubs are currently unnamed and unsexed, but researchers are excited about what kind of conservation implications these births have for the near-threatened species.

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Instead of purchasing unsexed trees from growers, the city should be acquiring certified male trees, as is the practice in other large metropolitan cities and Europe.

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Lady Macbeth was delivering a monologue where she is attempting to invoke demons when a lightbulb popped exactly as she delivered the line “unsex me now.”

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