graysexual en · ADJ
Pronunciation
- (US) audio
- /ˌɡɹeɪˈsɛk.ʃuː.əl/ (UK)
- /ˌɡɹeɪˈsɛk.ʃu.əl/ (US)
- /ˌɡɹeɪˈsɛk.sjuː.əl/ (UK)
Etymology
Blend of gray + asexual, coined by user asexualityrocks in 2008 on the forums of the Asexual Visibility and Education Network about two years after the advent of gray-A and gray asexual.
Meanings
-
(neologism, not-comparable) Intermediate between sexual and asexual; sometimes, but not usually, experiencing sexual attraction and desire.
Some aces are gray-sexual (or gray-A), meaning that they fall somewhere on a spectrum between asexual and sexual.
2014 February 19, Tess Banta, “The 'A' Stands for Asexual”, in The Amherst Student, volume 143, number 16, Amherst College, page 7:Do you feel sexual attraction sometimes, but only rarely? You may be graysexual,* and you’ll have a lot in common with asexual people if you are.
2014 June 18, Julie Sondra Decker, “How to Tell If You Are Asexual”, in Time:But then I remember: the whole ethos of sex-positivity is predicated on a belief that everyone—sexual, asexual, or gray-sexual; monogamous, polyamorous, or something in-between; LGBTQ or as hetero as the Romneys—is entitled to pleasurable and safe sex.
2013, M. M, "sex-pos", Post- (Brown University), Volume 14, Issue 13, 21 February 2013, page 7
Forms
| Spelling | Features | Labels | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| gray-sexual | alternative | lexicographic | |
| grey-sexual | UK, alternative | lexicographic | |
| greysexual | UK, alternative | lexicographic |