sex
verb · noun
Simple meaning
Tell the sex.
Pronunciation
Say it like this:
sehksIPA pronunciation (US)
ˈsɛks
This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.
IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.
Definition
Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.
verb
Tell the sex (of young chickens)
noun
Either of the two categories (male or female) into which most organisms are divided
The properties that distinguish organisms on the basis of their reproductive roles
“She didn't want to know the sex of the foetus.”
countable
Another category, especially of humans and especially based on sexuality or gender roles.
uncountable
The distinction and relation between these categories, especially in humans; gender.
countable
The members of such a category, taken collectively.
Word at a Glance
- Difficulty
- A1 · Beginner (estimated)
- Frequency
- Very Common
- Typical Use
- Varies by meaning
Word Aura™
How this word commonly comes across.
Aura for this meaning
This meaning: Either of the two categories (male or female) into which most organisms are divided
Used this way, sex is a reasonably familiar word that usually carries little praise or criticism of its own. It usually sounds natural in a wide range of settings.
- Emotional tone
- Neutral
- Formality
- Neutral
- Intensity
- Not strongly marked
- How common
- Moderately common
- Connotation
- Matter-of-fact
- Usage feel
- Neutral and straightforward
Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.
More ways to use sex
- “She didn't want to know the sex of the foetus.”noun
- “He wanted a better sex life.”noun
- “They had sex in the back seat.”noun
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Common Patterns and Combinations
How this word naturally appears with others.
Related Words
Connected to the same idea, not synonyms.
- homosexualnoun
- heterosexualnoun
- homosexualitynoun
- gendernoun
More about this wordSynonyms, forms, origin
Synonyms
Sense: either of the two categories (male
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Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.