Dictionary

promiscuous en · ADJ

Pronunciation

• (Australia) audio
• /pɹəˈmɪs.kju.əs/

Etymology

From Latin prōmiscuus (“mixed, not separated”), from prō (“forth”) + misceō (“mix”).

Meanings

1. Made up of various disparate elements mixed together; of disorderly composition.
   • Came singly where he stood on the bare strand, / While the promiscuous croud stood yet aloof. 1667, John Milton, “Book I”, in Paradise Lost. […], London: […] [Samuel Simmons], and are to be sold by Peter Parker […]; [a]nd by Robert Boulter […]; [a]nd Matthias Walker, […], →OCLC; republished as Paradise Lost in Ten Books: […], London: Basil Montagu Pickering […], 1873, →OCLC, lines 379-80:
   • [T]hey had both been educated [...] on plans at once narrow and promiscuous, first in an English family and afterwards in a Swiss family at Lausanne, their bachelor uncle and guardian trying in this way to remedy the disadvantages of their orphaned condition. 1871, George Eliot [pseudonym; Mary Ann Evans], chapter I, in Middlemarch […], volume I, Edinburgh; London: William Blackwood and Sons, →OCLC, book I, page 4:
2. Made without careful choice; indiscriminate.
   • A sail caught by a promiscuous wind.
3. Having many sexual partners, especially if indiscriminate in choice of sexual partners.
   • X spreads false rumours to third parties about X’s spouse being promiscuous. X’s spouse finds out about the rumours and is distressed. X has committed emotional or psychological abuse against X’s spouse. 2023, Parliament of Singapore, “Women’s Charter (Family Violence and Other Matters) (Amendment) Bill”, in Republic of Singapore Government Gazette, archived from the original on 10 May 2023, page 5:
4. The mode in which an NIC gathers all network traffic instead of getting only the traffic intended for it.

Forms

Antonyms

celibate · virginal · chaste

Deriveds

superpromiscuous · promiscuity · overpromiscuous · promiscuously · promiscuousness · unpromiscuous · nonpromiscuous

Descendants

promiskuos

Hypernyms

dissipated · debauched · dissolute · self-indulgent · immoral · corrupted · decadent · incontinent · profligate · unrestrained · hedonic · depraved

Hyponyms

round-heeled · whorish · slaggy · sluttish · tarty · fast-tailed · fallen · Of a man · slutty · meretricious · hot to trot · skeezy · rakish · bad · louche · whorey · sleazy · Of a woman · raffish

Relateds

promiscuous man · promiscuous woman · aroused · put out

Synonyms

licentious · riggish · wappened · lustful · wanton · abandoned · common · libidinous · loose · lascivious · promiscuous · slack · motley · lusty · fast · lewd · easy · unchaste · liberal

Translations (79)

de wahllos (made without careful choice; indiscriminate) · de willkürlich (made without careful choice; indiscriminate) · pl rozwiązły (indiscriminate in choice of sexual partners) · fr indiscriminé (made without careful choice; indiscriminate) · mk промискуите́тен (indiscriminate in choice of sexual partners) · ru неразбо́рчивый (made without careful choice; indiscriminate) · mk ра́спуштен (indiscriminate in choice of sexual partners) · ca promiscu (made up of various disparate elements mixed together) · mk разно́виден (made up of various disparate elements mixed together) · sk promiskuitný (made without careful choice; indiscriminate) · fr promiscue (indiscriminate in choice of sexual partners) · es promiscuo (indiscriminate in choice of sexual partners) · mi tarau makere (indiscriminate in choice of sexual partners) · la promiscuus (made without careful choice; indiscriminate) · fi summittainen (made without careful choice; indiscriminate) · es promiscuo (made without careful choice; indiscriminate) · fi kevytkenkäinen (indiscriminate in choice of sexual partners) · sk promiskuitný (indiscriminate in choice of sexual partners) · mi tīweka (indiscriminate in choice of sexual partners) · tl handalapak (indiscriminate in choice of sexual partners) · mk блу́ден (indiscriminate in choice of sexual partners) · da promiskuøs (indiscriminate in choice of sexual partners) · yue 濫交嘅 /滥交嘅 (indiscriminate in choice of sexual partners) · fi valikoimaton (networking: the mode in which an NIC gathers all network traffic) · pl bezmyślny (made without careful choice; indiscriminate) · pl przypadkowy (made without careful choice; indiscriminate) · yue A380 (indiscriminate in choice of sexual partners) · bg разнороден (made up of various disparate elements mixed together) · ru неразбо́рчивый (indiscriminate in choice of sexual partners) · fi umpimähkäinen (made without careful choice; indiscriminate) · ga ilchaidreamhach (indiscriminate in choice of sexual partners) · bg разпуснат (indiscriminate in choice of sexual partners) · fr promiscue (networking: the mode in which an NIC gathers all network traffic) · tr rastgele (made up of various disparate elements mixed together) · de bunt gemischt (made up of various disparate elements mixed together) · mk непро́мислен (made without careful choice; indiscriminate) · tr herkesle yatan (indiscriminate in choice of sexual partners) · de promiskuitiv (indiscriminate in choice of sexual partners) · sk promiskuitný (made up of various disparate elements mixed together) · pl mieszany (made up of various disparate elements mixed together) · pl różnorodny (made up of various disparate elements mixed together) · oc mesclat (made up of various disparate elements mixed together) · es promiscuo (made up of various disparate elements mixed together) · tr keyfî (made without careful choice; indiscriminate) · fr hétéroclite (made up of various disparate elements mixed together) · ru распу́щенный (indiscriminate in choice of sexual partners) · ru разношёрстный (made up of various disparate elements mixed together) · fi erottelematon (networking: the mode in which an NIC gathers all network traffic) · bg безразборен (made without careful choice; indiscriminate) · oc mesclat (networking: the mode in which an NIC gathers all network traffic) · mk безра́зборен (made without careful choice; indiscriminate) · jra rih (indiscriminate in choice of sexual partners) · yue 混雜嘅 /混杂嘅 (made up of various disparate elements mixed together) · sv promiskuös (indiscriminate in choice of sexual partners) · fi sekalainen (made up of various disparate elements mixed together) · pt promíscuo (indiscriminate in choice of sexual partners) · tr gelişigüzel (made up of various disparate elements mixed together) · gl promiscuo (made up of various disparate elements mixed together) · ca promiscu (made without careful choice; indiscriminate) · de freizügig (indiscriminate in choice of sexual partners) · mi ure paratī (indiscriminate in choice of sexual partners) · is lauslátur (indiscriminate in choice of sexual partners) · th ร่าน (indiscriminate in choice of sexual partners) · pl nieprzemyślany (made without careful choice; indiscriminate) · mk разно́роден (made up of various disparate elements mixed together) · gl promiscuo (indiscriminate in choice of sexual partners) · de unüberlegt (made without careful choice; indiscriminate) · ru распу́тный (indiscriminate in choice of sexual partners) · de sexuell freizügig (indiscriminate in choice of sexual partners) · pl rozpustny (indiscriminate in choice of sexual partners) · sk promiskuitný (networking: the mode in which an NIC gathers all network traffic) · tr karışık (made up of various disparate elements mixed together) · pl nasłuchujący (networking: the mode in which an NIC gathers all network traffic) · ru разноро́дный (made up of various disparate elements mixed together) · nl promiscue (indiscriminate in choice of sexual partners) · de zusammengewürfelt (made up of various disparate elements mixed together) · oc variat (made up of various disparate elements mixed together) · da promiskuøs (made without careful choice; indiscriminate) · ca promiscu (indiscriminate in choice of sexual partners)