Skip to main content
lesbian

lesbian

347 3.0
A woman who is romantically or sexually attracted to other women
  • noun
  • /ˈlɛzbiən/
translation icon : lesbiana
  • Last but not least, should we consider discrimination against lesbians as one of our concerns?
  • a lesbian woman
  • gays and lesbians
  • lesbians and bisexuals

And the gays think the lesbians are kind of dowdy and boring.

Autoplay Next

Examples

  • Martha Courtot was a lesbian, activist, poet, mother of three, and grandmother of one.

    Academic text (2012)
  • I start to realize like what a lesbian was and like what my parents were.

  • I was a lesbian for a while, you know.

  • How did you know she was a lesbian?"

  • Across the street I had lesbian neighbors.

  • I had these two beautiful lesbians that live next door across the street.

  • Since the early 1980s, lesbians and gay men have been raising children in increasing numbers.

    Academic text (2011)
  • I'm a lesbian.

  • My sister is a lesbian and she's in a loving relationship with her partner.

  • Many lesbian women face challenges in society regarding their relationships.

Synonyms

gay
vslesbian
265 3.3

A person who is attracted to people of the same sex

is specifically about women rather than general or male usage
homosexual
vslesbian
140 4.1

A person who is sexually attracted to people of the same sex

is specific to women rather than to people of any sex
gay woman
vslesbian
6 2.8

A woman who is romantically or sexually attracted to other women

is the single common term used for the same attraction
sapphist
vslesbian
  • Archaic
9.9

A woman who loves women

is the modern neutral term rather than old or literary
homosexualist
vslesbian
  • Archaic
7.5

A person who is attracted to people of the same sex

is limited to women rather than describing any sex
homophile
vslesbian
  • NSFW
9.9

A person who is attracted to people of the same sex

is focused on women specifically rather than all same sex attraction

Compounds

9.9

A woman who moves in with another woman very soon after they start dating

Surface Forms

lesbian singular
lesbians plural

Morphology

lesbian = lesbian (opaque) = Lesbos + ian

The noun is a zero-derived substantivization of the adjective 'lesbian'.

Etymology

A lesbian is a woman who is attracted to other women, and the name comes from the island Lesbos because of the poet Sappho, so the word now means a woman who loves women.