What does ambisexuality mean?
Ambisexuality refers to the capacity for sexual attraction or responsiveness toward people of both sexes — essentially, a bisexual orientation described under a different label. The word combines 'ambi-', from Latin meaning 'on both sides' or 'both', with 'sexuality', giving it a clinical, descriptive flavor. It appears most often in older or specialist texts on psychology and sexology, where writers sought a neutral, quasi-scientific vocabulary for sexual orientation; Alfred Kinsey's mid-twentieth-century research, which framed sexual responsiveness as a continuum, is representative of the intellectual climate in which such terminology circulated. In current everyday language, ambisexuality has largely been superseded by bisexuality, which carries stronger community identity and broader recognition. As a result, encountering ambisexuality today usually signals an academic source, a historical document, or an author deliberately choosing a less common synonym. Its connotations are neutral to clinical rather than judgmental, though its rarity can make it feel archaic to modern readers.
nounThe quality or state of being sexually responsive to, or attracted to, people of both sexes; bisexual orientation considered as a characteristic.
- Sexual attraction or responsiveness directed toward people of both sexes; the condition of having bisexual orientation.
"In some psychological literature of the twentieth century, ambisexuality was discussed as a trait observed across many mammalian species."
"Early sexological studies sometimes used ambisexuality to describe individuals attracted to both men and women."
"The researcher noted that ambisexuality, as she used the term, referred to responsiveness to both sexes rather than to any specific partner count."
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Etymology of ambisexuality
Ambisexuality is formed from the Latin-derived prefix 'ambi-', meaning 'both' or 'on both sides' (as seen in 'ambidextrous' and 'ambivalent'), combined with 'sexuality', a term rooted in Latin 'sexus'. It emerged as a technical coinage within English-language sexology and psychology, likely in the late nineteenth or early twentieth century, when researchers sought precise vocabulary for sexual orientation. It functions as a near-synonym of bisexuality but never achieved the latter's currency, and it remains a relatively rare term in modern usage.
How ambisexuality is actually used
Ambisexuality is an uncommon, somewhat dated or technical term; in everyday usage and contemporary LGBTQ+ discourse, bisexuality is far more prevalent. The word may carry a clinical or academic tone and is rarely encountered outside specialized writing on human sexuality.
Easily confused with ambisexuality
Bisexuality is the standard modern term for attraction to more than one gender, whereas ambisexuality is a less common term that historically referred specifically to attraction to both sexes.