Copyright © Philip M. Parker, INSEAD. Terms of Use.
Definition: Heterosexual |
HeterosexualAdjective1. Sexually attracted to members of the opposite sex. Noun1. A heterosexual person; someone having a sexual orientation to persons of the opposite sex. Source: WordNet 1.7.1 Copyright © 2001 by Princeton University. All rights reserved. |
Date "heterosexual" was first used in popular English literature: sometime before 1980. (references) |
| Domain | Definition |
Diversity | Pertaining to individuals attracted to the opposite sex. (references) |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |
(From Wikipedia, the free Encyclopedia)
Heterosexuality is exclusive romantic or sexual desire for, or sexual activities with, persons of the opposite sex. It is overwhelmingly the most common sexual orientation. Heterosexual sexual intercourse is responsible for the reproduction of most animal species, including humans.
Heterosexuality is colloquially referred to as being straight, although that term can also mean anyone whose sexuality could be described as orthodox. For example, people who practice BDSM (i.e.,bondage and discipline, domination and submission, and sadism and machochism) sometimes use the term to refer to anyone who does not (though the terms vanilla or vanilla sex are more common).
Some studies, notably Sexual Behavior in the Human Male (1948) (ISBN 0253334128) and Sexual Behavior in the Human Female (1953) (ISBN 025333411X) by Dr. Alfred Kinsey, note that when asked to rate themselves on a continuum from completely heterosexual to completely homosexual, and when the individual's behavior as well as their identity is analyzed, the majority of people appear to be at least somewhat bisexual. Most people have some attraction to either sex, although usually one sex is preferred. According to Kinsey, therefore, only a minority (5-10%) can be considered to be fully heterosexual or homosexual. Conversely an even smaller minority can be considered fully bisexual, if that term is defined as having no preference for one sex over another.
See also:
- sexual inclination : homosexual , bisexual.
Source: adapted by the editor from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia under a copyleft GNU Free Documentation License (GFDL) from the article "Heterosexuality."
Synonyms: HeterosexualSynonyms: heterosexual person (n), straight (n), straight person (n). (additional references) |
| Antonyms: bisexual (adj), homosexual (adj). (additional references) |
Crosswords: Heterosexual |
| English words defined with "heterosexual": aphrodisia ♦ heterosexism, heterosexual person ♦ straight, straight person ♦ tribadistic. (references) |
| Specialty definitions using "heterosexual": Fag Hag, fag stag. (references) |
| Non-English Usage: "Heterosexual" is also a word in the following language with the English translation in parentheses. Spanish (heterosexual). |
| Domain | Usage | |
Screenplays | Have you noticed that you're the only practicing heterosexual at your Thanksgiving dinner (The Object of My Affection; writing credit: Wendy Wasserstein. Based on the novel by Stephen McCauley.) Neurotic, heterosexual (Auntie Mame; writing credit: Betty Comden; Patrick Dennis) See, you asked me if I was heterosexual; I asked you the same question, only I was clear about the answer I was looking for. (The Way of the Gun; writing credit: Christopher McQuarrie) In women's tennis, I always root against the heterosexual. (Top Secret!; writing credit: Jim Abrahams; David Zucker) The world of the heterosexual is a sick and boring life (Female Trouble; writing credit: John Waters) | |
Lyrics | 'cause I'm a heterosexual man (Heterosexual Man; performing artist: Odds) Just a heterosexual man (Heterosexual Man; performing artist: Odds) | |
Movie/TV Titles | The Last Heterosexual (1993) | |
Song Titles | Heterosexual Man (performing artist: Odds) | |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | ||
| Domain | Title |
Books |
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Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |
| Subject | Topic | Quote |
Health | There is evidence that consistent and correct condom use reduces HIV seroconversion to nearly zero in both male and female heterosexual partners. (references) | |
It is essential to continue development of interventions to reduce heterosexual transmission of HIV to women as well as their risk of drug abuse behavior. (references) | ||
In addition, little is known about the risk behaviors of lesbians and bisexual women, heterosexual men, persons over 50 years old, and sexually active youth. (references) | ||
Source: compiled by the editor from ICON Group International, Inc.; see credits. | ||
| "Heterosexual" is generally used as an adjective (general or positive) -- approximately 99.47% of the time. "Heterosexual" is used about 378 times out of a sample of 100 million words spoken or written in English. Its rank is based on over 700,000 words used in the English language. Some parts-of-speech are not covered due to the samples used by the British National Corpus. (note: percents less than one-hundredth of one percent have been omitted) |
| Parts of Speech | Percent | Usage per 100 Million Words | Rank in English |
| Adjective (general or positive) | 99.47% | 376 | 14,528 |
| Noun (proper) | 0.53% | 2 | 245,945 |
| Total | 100.00% | 378 | N/A |
Source: compiled by the editor from several corpora; see credits.
Expression using "heterosexual": heterosexual person. Additional references. | |
| Hypenated Usage | |
Ending with "heterosexual": non-heterosexual. | |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |
| The following statistics estimate the number of searches per day across the major English-language search engines as identified by various trade publications. Hyperlinks lead to commercial use of the expression at Amazon.com. |
| Language | Translations for "heterosexual"; alternative meanings/domain in parentheses. | |
Albanian | heteroseksual, seksesh të ndryshme, me prirje seksuale normale për seksin tjetër. (various references) | |
Arabic | محب للجنس الآخر, متباين الجنس. (various references) | |
Bulgarian | хетеросексуален. (various references) | |
Chinese | 異性 , 异性爱. (various references) | |
Czech | heterosexuální, heterosexuál. (various references) | |
Danish | heterosexuelt overførsel (heterosexual transmission). (various references) | |
Dutch | heterosexuele druggebruiker (drug-abuser heterosexual man/woman), heteroseksuele partner van druggebruiker (heterosexual partner of drug abuser), heteroseksuele druggebruikster (drug-abuser heterosexual man/woman), virus dat overgedragen is tijdens heteroseksueel contact (virus transmitted during heterosexual intercourse), overbrengen tijdens heterosexueel contact (heterosexual transmission). (various references) | |
French | hétérosexuel. (various references) | |
German | heterosexuell, heterosexüll. (various references) | |
Greek | ετερόφυλοσ (of another race). (various references) | |
Hungarian | heteroszexuális, másik nemhez vonzódó. (various references) | |
Italian | eterosessuale. (various references) | |
Korean | 이성 . (various references) | |
Manx | hetracheintyssagh. (various references) | |
Pig Latin | eterosexualhay.(various references) | |
Portuguese | heterossexual. (various references) | |
Russian | гетеросексуальный. (various references) | |
Serbo-Croatian | heteroseksualan. (various references) | |
Spanish | heterosexual. (various references) | |
Swedish | heterosexuell. (various references) | |
Turkish | heteroseksüel (hetero), karşı cinse ilgi duyan kimse (hetero). (various references) | |
Ukrainian | гетеросексуальний. (various references) | |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various translation references. | ||
Derivations | |
Words beginning with "heterosexual": heterosexualities, heterosexuality, heterosexually, heterosexuals. (additional references) | |
| |
"Heterosexual" is suggested in spellcheckers for the following: herterosexual, hetereosexual, hetrosexual. (additional references) | |
| Source: compiled by the editor, based on several corpora (additional references). | |
| # of Phoneme Matches | Pronunciation | Word(s) rhyming with "heterosexual" (pronounced he'terōse"kshuwul) |
| 9 | -ō s e" k sh u w u l | homosexual. |
| 4 | -u w u l | individual, actual, casual, spiritual, textual, mutual, perceptual, semiannual, sensual, unusual, usual, visual. |
| 3 | -w u l | bilingual, coequal, equal, monolingual, multilingual, sequel, tranquil, unequal. |
Source: compiled by the editor (additional references); see credits. | ||
Scrabble® Enable2K-Verified Anagrams | |
| Words within the letters "a-e-e-e-h-l-o-r-s-t-u-x" | |
-3 letters: axletrees, exhauster, trehalose. | |
-4 letters: alehouse, aureoles, axletree, ethereal, exalters, halteres, hosteler, leathers, loathers, oleaster, outhears, oxhearts, ratholes, resalute, resolute, rosulate, shoetree, teahouse, teaseler, thoraxes. | |
-5 letters: aethers, areoles, aureole, austere, authors, earshot, elaters, eluates, estrual, eustele, exalter, exhales, exhaust, exhorts, haltere, halters, harlots, harslet, haulers, healers, heaters, heelers, heteros, hoaxers, holster, hostler, hurtles, hustler. | |
| Words containing the letters "a-e-e-e-h-l-o-r-s-t-u-x" | |
+1 letter: heterosexuals. | |
+2 letters: heterosexually. | |
+3 letters: heterosexuality. | |
+5 letters: heterosexualities. | |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. SCRABBLE® is a registered trademark. All intellectual property rights in and to the game are owned in the U.S.A and Canada by Hasbro Inc., and throughout the rest of the world by J.W. Spear & Sons Limited of Maidenhead, Berkshire, England, a subsidiary of Mattel Inc. Mattel and Spear are not affiliated with Hasbro. | |
| 1. Definition 2. Synonyms 3. Crosswords 4. Usage: Modern | 5. Usage: Commercial 6. Images: Slideshow 7. Quotations: Non-fiction 8. Usage Frequency | 9. Expressions 10. Expressions: Internet 11. Translations: Modern 12. Derivations | 13. Rhymes 14. Anagrams 15. Bibliography |
Copyright © Philip M. Parker, INSEAD. Terms of Use.
