promiscuity

What it means

1. countableuncountableThe state or quality of being promiscuous.
2. countableuncountableIndiscriminateness in the choice of sexual partners.

   As she becomes more conscious of her flirtatious power, she is sometimes urged toward promiscuity.

   1998 May 14, James Dobson, “Self-worth based on beauty can wither as women age”, in The Woodfield County Journal

   3 more examples

   Experimental variety or what Rey Anthony has called selective promiscuity - is the cornerstone of sane sexual choice.

   1963, Albert Ellis, The Intelligent Woman's Guide to Manhunting, page 129

   I'm not advocating sexual promiscuity but I think it's possible for a woman to have many kinds of sexual relationships with many men and that shouldn't affect the status of the marriage

   1975 March 17, Marian Christy, “Suzy Chaffee, A Liberated Beauty”, in The Lebanon Daily News

   Seeing these happy pairings, I thought of the cheerful promiscuity to come. I felt a growing sexual need, not only for the young women brushing against me in the crowded street...

   1979, J.G. Ballard, The Unlimited Dream Company, chapter 24

3. countabledatedliteraryuncountableState of being mixed, composed of diverse elements, unsystematic; heterogeneity.

   While I dressed—for Stroeve wished me to go at once with him to the hospital—he told me that he had arranged for his wife to have a private room, so that she might at least be spared the sordid promiscuity of a ward.

   1919, W[illiam] Somerset Maugham, “chapter 34”, in The Moon and Sixpence, [New York, N.Y.]: Grosset & Dunlap Publishers […], →OCLC

In a sentence

Experimental variety or what Rey Anthony has called selective promiscuity - is the cornerstone of sane sexual choice.

1963, Albert Ellis, The Intelligent Woman's Guide to Manhunting, page 129

Where it comes from

1. Frenchpromiscuité
2. Englishpromiscuity

From French promiscuité.