sexless

English

Etymology

From sex +‎ -less. Compare sexful.

Pronunciation

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

Adjective

sexless (not comparable)

1. Without sexual activity.

   They have a sexless marriage.

   • 2016 January 24, Les Chappell, “TV: Review: The Simpsons (Classic), “Natural Born Kissers” (season nine, episode 25, originally aired 05/17/1998)”, in The Onion AV Club‎:

     They’re sexually active and eager throughout the first nine seasons, so this isn’t like the show breathing life into a sexless sitcom couple from the 1950s.

2. Without physical or behavioral sexual distinction.
3. Provoking or showing no sexual desire.

   A small child is sexless.

   • 1961 November 10, Joseph Heller, “The Soldier in White”, in Catch-22 […], New York, N.Y.: Simon and Schuster, →OCLC, page 171:

     The more solicitous of the two was Nurse Cramer, a shapely, pretty, sexless girl with a wholesome unattractive face.

4. Without sex appeal. (Can we add an example for this sense?)

Synonyms

• sex-free, sexfree
• (without intimacy): loveless
• (without sexual activity since birth): virgin, virginal
• (without sexual activity by choice): celibate, chaste; asexual

Translations

not having sexual characteristics

Afrikaans: geslagloos Belarusian: бяспло́цевы (bjasplócjevy), бяспо́лы (be) (bjaspóly) Bulgarian: безпо́лов (bg) (bezpólov) Chinese: Mandarin: 無性 / 无性 (zh) (wúxìng) Czech: bezpohlavní Dutch: geslachtloos (nl) Finnish: sukupuoleton (fi) French: asexué (fr) German: geschlechtslos (de) Japanese: 無性の (ja) (むせいの, musei no) Korean: 중성의 (ko) (jungseong-ui) Macedonian: бесполен (bespolen) Norwegian: Bokmål: kjønnsløs Nynorsk: kjønnslaus Polish: bezpłciowy (pl) Russian: беспо́лый (ru) (bespólyj) Slovak: bezpohlavný Ukrainian: безстате́вий (uk) (bezstatévyj)

not having sexual relations

Afrikaans: seksloos Bulgarian: фриги́ден (bg) (frigíden) Dutch: seksloos (nl) Finnish: seksitön (fi) Slovak: bez sexu

See also

• genderless