sexual

1. 1
   of intercourseadjective

   Relating to sex, sexual activity, or sexual behavior, including its place in society and culture.

   The film was rated for adults because of its explicit sexual content.

   Doctors asked about any changes in his sexual behavior over the past year.

   UsageCommon before nouns: sexual content, sexual behavior. Be sexual with someone is a discreet phrase for intimate contact.

   Oppositenonsexual

2. 2
   charged with desireadjective

   Marked by sexual feelings or behavior, and possessing the quality of sexuality.

   Her poetry is charged with a frank sexual energy.

   He became more openly sexual in his early twenties.

   Similarsensual, erotic, sexy, carnal, passionate

   Oppositesexless, chaste, asexual

   Note

   Here the word describes a person's nature or manner rather than any particular act. A very sexual woman is one in whom sexuality is a vivid part of who she is. Because it names a quality rather than an act, it sits comfortably beside celibacy: a 1994 Christian book, Purity & Passion, says of Jesus that he "was sexual, single, and celibate." Compare the sense about physical acts. Source

   Checked 3 Nov 2026 · 2 facts

   • Purity & Passion was published in 1994. en.wikipedia.org
   • The Christian book Purity & Passion describes Jesus using the quoted words. en.wiktionary.org
3. 3
   genderadjective

   Resulting from being male or female; concerned with sex or gender, or with how men and women relate to each other socially.

   Many women still face sexual discrimination when they apply for jobs.

   The historian traced how the sexual division of labor changed as factories replaced family farms.

   UsageIn sexual equality and sexual discrimination, it is about men and women, not desire.

   Similargendered

   Note

   Here the word sorts people by sex rather than describing desire. Sexual discrimination is unfair treatment on the grounds of being a woman or a man, and the sexual division of labor is about who does which work. In phrases like these nothing erotic is meant, and context usually makes that plain.

4. 4
   adjective

   Experiencing sexual attraction toward other people, rather than being asexual.

   He identifies as sexual, unlike his asexual sibling.

   On the questionnaire, most participants identified as sexual, though a small number described themselves as asexual.

   UsageMostly as the partner term to asexual. Allosexual says the same with less risk of confusion.

   Similarallosexual

   Oppositeasexual

   Note

   A use that belongs to conversations about asexuality, where sexual is simply the partner term to asexual. T. T. Monday's novel Double Switch shows the split in action, between "those who are sexual and those who are not." Source

   Checked 3 Nov 2026 · 2 facts

   • Double Switch is a novel by T. T. Monday. penguinrandomhouse.com
   • Double Switch contains the quoted distinction between sexual and asexual people. en.wiktionary.org
5. 5
   reproducing by matingadjective

   Capable of sexual reproduction, in which offspring arise from the fusion of two sex cells, usually from two parents.

   Most flowering plants are sexual, producing seeds from pollinated flowers.

   Many fungi alternate between sexual and asexual phases in their life cycle.

   Oppositeasexual

   Note

   A biologist's sense, defined by its opposite. What matters is the contrast with asexual reproduction, as in the sexual and asexual phases of a fungal life cycle. It describes organisms, processes and stages, never feelings: a sexual plant is simply one that reproduces by joining sex cells. Biologists also turn it into a count noun, the biologist's noun, for the organisms themselves. Source

   Checked 31 Oct 2026 · 2 facts

   • A fungal life cycle can have sexual and asexual phases. openstax.org
   • Sexually reproducing plants need not produce seeds: ferns reproduce sexually using eggs and sperm but produce no seeds. yardandgarden.extension.iastate.edu

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