asexual

From a- (“lacking, without”) +‎ -sexual.

• (UK) IPA^(key): /eɪˈsɛk.ʃuː.əl/, /eɪˈsɛk.sjuː.əl/
• (US) IPA^(key): /eɪˈsɛk.ʃu.əl/

• Audio (General American):

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• Audio (Southern England):

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• Rhymes: -ɛkʃuːəl
• Hyphenation: a‧sex‧u‧al

asexual (not comparable)

1. Nonsexual in nature, unmarked by sexual activity.

   Coordinate term: platonic

   • 2004, Martha Vicinus, Intimate Friends: women who loved women, 1778-1928, page 150:

     The central paradox of Linton's writing was her inability, or unwillingness, to imagine an asexual friendship between women.

2. (especially of a person) Not experiencing sexual attraction; lacking interest in or desire for sex.

   Synonyms: (slang) ace, (slang) asexy, a-spec

   • 2010, Jerrold S. Greenberg, Clint E. Bruess, Sarah C. Conklin, Exploring the Dimensions of Human Sexuality, fourth edition, pages 357-358:

     Many asexual people experience attraction, but feel no need to act out that attraction sexually. Because they don't see a lack of sexual arousal as a problem to be corrected, asexual people focus their energy on enjoying other types of arousal and pleasure.

   • 2021 March 21, Jamie Waters, “‘I don’t want sex with anyone’: the growing asexuality movement”, in The Observer‎^[1]:

     Benoit is determined to ensure other asexual (or “ace”) people don’t feel broken or alone in a world in which lust and desire pulsate through our entire culture.

   • For more quotations using this term, see Citations:asexual.
3. (biology) Lacking distinct sex, lacking sexual organs.

   Synonym: epicene

4. (biology) Without sexual action; reproducing by some other method than sex.

   asexual reproduction

   • 2011 July 19, Ella Davies, “Stick insects survive one million years without sex”, in BBC‎^[2]:

     They traced the ancient lineages of two species to reveal the insects' lengthy history of asexual reproduction.

• allosexual

asexual (plural asexuals)

1. (biology) A species which reproduces by asexual rather than sexual reproduction, or a member of such a species.
   • 2009, Isa Schön, Giampaolo Rossetti, Koen Martens, Darwinulid Ostracods: Ancient Asexual Scandals or Scandalous Gossip?, published as Chapter 11 of Lost Sex: The Evolutionary Biology of Parthenogenesis, Isa Schön, Koen Martens, Peter van Dijk (editors), page 221:

     11.2 Demonstrating the Status of Long-Lived Asexuals

     [...] Indeed, if sex has so many advantages, then which special adaptations - if any - allow long-term survival without it? However, the main task of the research teams dealing with such putative ancient asexuals has thus far been to demonstrate that their respective groups (mainly bdelloids, darwinulids and certain lineages within orbatid mites) indeed merit the status.

2. A person who does not experience sexual attraction; a person who lacks interest in or desire for sex.
3. (rare) Something which does not have a sex, or a word which refers to such a thing.
   • 1936, The Journal of English and Germanic Philology, volume 35, page 323:

     […] The masculine forms are used to a considerable extent in congruence with etymologically masculine nouns; also with etymologically feminine asexuals; e.g. se stefn L 9, 36; [...] The neuter forms are used with etymologically neuter nouns; with etymologically masculine asexuals; e.g. þ cyrtil L 6, 29; J 19, 23; þ penning L 20, 24; bēam (Lindelof p. 9) ; stān (Lindelof p. 11); and with etymologically feminine asexuals; e.g. [...]

• allosexual

• Asexual (in the sense of lacking sexual attraction or desire) should not be confused with hyposexual (see usage notes at hyposexuality) or non-libidoist.

• (romantic orientations) romantic orientation; aromantic (-ism), biromantic (-ism), demiromantic (-ism), heteroromantic (-ism), homoromantic (-ism), panromantic (-ism), transromantic ^{(Category: en:Romantic orientations)}
• fission, gemmation

• IPA^(key): (Central, Balearic) [ə.sək.suˈal]
• IPA^(key): (Valencia) [a.sek.suˈal]

• Audio (Catalonia):

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asexual m or f (masculine and feminine plural asexuals)

1. asexual

asexual m or f by sense (plural asexuals)

1. asexual

• sexual

• asexualitat

• IPA^(key): /asekˈswal/ [a.s̺ekˈs̺wɑɫ]
• Rhymes: -al

asexual m or f (plural asexuais)

1. asexual

asexual m or f by sense (plural asexuais)

1. asexual

• sexual

• “asexual”, in Dicionario da Real Academia Galega (in Galician), A Coruña: Royal Galician Academy, 2012–2025

a +‎ sexual.

• Audio:

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asexual (strong nominative masculine singular asexualer, not comparable)

1. (uncommon)

• asexuell

• “asexual” in Duden online
• “asexual” in Digitales Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache

Borrowed from English asexual. Equivalent to a- +‎ sexual.

• IPA^(key): [aseksuˈal]

asexual m or n (feminine singular asexuală, masculine plural asexuali, feminine and neuter plural asexuale)

1. asexual

asexual m (plural asexuali)

1. asexual

• asexualitate

From a- +‎ sexual.

• IPA^(key): /aseɡˈswal/ [a.seɣ̞ˈswal]
• Rhymes: -al
• Syllabification: a‧se‧xual

asexual m or f (masculine and feminine plural asexuales)

1. asexual

asexual m or f by sense (plural asexuales)

1. asexual

• “asexual”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.8, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 10 December 2024