heterosexual
pronunciation
How to pronounce heterosexual in British English:
UK [ˌhetərəˈsekʃuəl]
How to pronounce heterosexual in American English:
US [ˌhɛtəroˈsɛkʃuəl]
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- Noun:
- a heterosexual person; someone having a sexual orientation to persons of the opposite sex
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- Adjective:
- sexually attracted to members of the opposite sex
Word Origin
- heterosexual (adj.)
- 1892, in C.G. Craddock's translation of Krafft-Ebbing's "Psychopathia Sexualis," a hybrid; see hetero- + sexual. The noun is recorded from 1920, but not in common use until 1960s. Colloquial shortening hetero is attested from 1933.
Example
- 1. Heterosexual men and women can 't be true friends .
- 2. This figure contrasts with 12 percent of heterosexual teens .
- 3. The handsome , nice and heterosexual man are married .
- 4. And heterosexual men are married .
- 5. In china , for example , most new infections now result from heterosexual sex , rather than from intravenous drug use , as in the past .