What does nonsexist mean?
Nonsexist means free from sexism and from language, attitudes, or practices that privilege or stereotype people according to sex or gender. It is most often used to describe wording that can apply equally to men and women, as in “nonsexist job titles,” and more broadly to describe policies, institutions, or social attitudes that do not treat one sex as the default. In everyday use, the term is closely associated with gender-neutral language: replacing “chairman” with “chair,” for example, is an effort to make terminology nonsexist. The word can also carry a slightly political or critical tone, since identifying something as nonsexist often implies that common alternatives have been examined for hidden assumptions. Nevertheless, its basic sense is descriptive rather than an accusation. A careful writer may note that eliminating explicit gender can itself obscure biological distinctions when they are relevant, so nonsexist does not necessarily mean “gender-free”; it means without discriminatory or defaulting treatment based on sex or gender.
adjectiveFree from sexism or discriminatory assumptions based on sex or gender.
- Free from sexism, gender-based discrimination, or assumptions that privilege one sex.
"The committee adopted a nonsexist policy so that neither women nor men were treated as the default."
"The committee adopted a nonsexist policy so that neither women nor men were treated as the default."
"Her nonsexist account of the promotion focused on the candidate's experience rather than gender."
Nonsexist is a quiet label with a radical idea: neither men nor women should be the unspoken default.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Where does nonsexist come from?
Nonsexist is an English formation made by combining the prefix non- with sexist. Sexist belongs to the English family formed around sexism, while sexual and unisex ultimately draw on Latin sexus, the source of the English word sex. The resulting adjective denotes something that is free of sexism.
How nonsexist is actually used
Both nonsexist and non-sexist are accepted spellings, though the hyphenated form is often used attributively. The term is not always interchangeable with gender-neutral: gender-neutral specifically describes language that does not mark gender, whereas nonsexist emphasizes the absence of sexist or discriminatory assumptions.
Easily confused with nonsexist
Sexist means discriminatory toward or privileging people on the basis of sex, whereas nonsexist means free from such discrimination.