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Glite Dictionary
🚫 To remove sexual content 🧬 To make infertile
to desexualize

to desexualize

9.3
To make a person or animal unable to have babies
  • verb
  • /ˌdiːˈsɛkʃuˌaɪz/
  • Specialized
translation icon : esterilizar
  • The animals were desexualized to prevent them from breeding in the sanctuary.

Examples

  • The vet will desexualize the cat to prevent unwanted litters.

  • The vet will desexualize the dog tomorrow.

  • Certain medical treatments can desexualize a person as a side effect.

  • Some controversial policies in history sought to desexualize specific populations.

  • They desexualized the male cat last week.

  • Certain medications may desexualize individuals, affecting their reproductive abilities.

  • In an effort to control population growth, the shelter decided to desexualize the dogs before adoption.

Synonyms

to fix
vsto desexualize
  • Informal
46 7.5

To make an animal unable to have babies

is not limited to animals and includes human cases too
to neuter
vsto desexualize
37 5.3

To remove an animal's organs used to make babies so it cannot reproduce

applies to both people and animals rather than animals only
to alter
vsto desexualize
26 8.1

To remove a female animal's ovaries so it cannot have young

covers both sexes and other reproductive changes not only female ovaries
to castrate
vsto desexualize
  • NSFW
21 9.1

To remove the sex organs of a person or animal so they cannot have young

can involve altering reproductive functions instead of only organ removal
to sterilize
vsto desexualize
  • Specialized
15 5.8

To make a person or animal unable to have children by a medical operation

often focuses on removing or altering reproductive organs or their functions
to desex
vsto desexualize
  • Australian
1 8.3

To stop an animal from having babies by removing or damaging its reproductive organs

can also include altering reproductive functions rather than only deactivation

Antonyms

to fertilize
  • Specialized
34 4.0

To make an egg or plant cell start growing by joining it with a male cell

How Infertile

to castrate
  • NSFW
21 9.1
to sterilize
  • Specialized
15 5.8
to desexualize
  • Specialized
9.3
to bring forth
  • Literature
5 8.1

Surface Forms

desexualize infinitive
desexualized past
desexualized past participle
desexualizing present participle
desexualizes third person singular

Morphology

desexualize = sexualize (semi-transparent) = de + sexual + ize

The components signal removal of sexual aspects, but the specific sense 'make infertile/neuter' is a specialized extension not automatically inferable by an average learner.

Etymology

Desexualize comes from de- 'remove' (as in defrost), sexual 'relating to sex', and -ize 'make' (as in realize). In medicine it can mean to 'make someone unable to have sex or to have babies', for example when a treatment removes sexual function.