Meanings
nounheterosexism (countable and uncountable, plural heterosexisms)
plural heterosexisms
- countableuncountableThe assumption made when relating to others that everyone is heterosexual.
One of the driving forces behind slash and femslash is the pervading heterosexism of commercial media – if television will not give us the due proportion of same-sex eroticism we are entitled to expect, then we will make it for ourselves.
2010, Stacey Abbott, The Cult TV Book, page 245 - countableuncountableDiscrimination or prejudice in favor of heterosexuals.
Synonyms & antonyms
Also see
Origin
From heterosex(ual) + -ism; modelled on sexism.
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Bulgarian хетеросексизъм
- хетеросексизъм (heteroseksizăm)Discrimination in favor of heterosexuals
Catalan heterosexisme
- heterosexismeDiscrimination in favor of heterosexuals
Czech heterosexismus
- heterosexismusDiscrimination in favor of heterosexuals
Danish heterosexisme
- heterosexismeDiscrimination in favor of heterosexuals
Dutch heteroseksisme
- heteroseksismeDiscrimination in favor of heterosexuals
Esperanto aliseksemismo
- aliseksemismoDiscrimination in favor of heterosexuals
Estonian heteroseksism
- heteroseksismDiscrimination in favor of heterosexuals
Finnish hetero-oletus
- hetero-oletusDiscrimination in favor of heterosexuals
French hétérosexisme
- hétérosexismeDiscrimination in favor of heterosexuals
German Heterosexismus
- HeterosexismusDiscrimination in favor of heterosexuals
Greek ετεροσεξισμός
- ετεροσεξισμός (eterosexismós)Discrimination in favor of heterosexuals
Hebrew הטרוסקסיזם
- הטרוסקסיזם (heteroseksizm)Discrimination in favor of heterosexuals
Hungarian heteroszexizmus
- heteroszexizmusDiscrimination in favor of heterosexuals
Irish heitrighnéasachas
- heitrighnéasachasDiscrimination in favor of heterosexuals
Italian eterosessismo
- eterosessismoDiscrimination in favor of heterosexuals
Latvian heteroseksisms
- heteroseksismsDiscrimination in favor of heterosexuals
Lithuanian heteroseksizmas, heterocentrizmas
- heteroseksizmasDiscrimination in favor of heterosexuals
- heterocentrizmasDiscrimination in favor of heterosexuals
Polish heteroseksizm
- heteroseksizmDiscrimination in favor of heterosexuals
Portuguese heterossexismo
- heterossexismoDiscrimination in favor of heterosexuals
Romanian heterosexism
- heterosexismDiscrimination in favor of heterosexuals
Russian гетеросекси́зм
- гетеросекси́зм (getɛrosɛksízm)Discrimination in favor of heterosexuals
Slovak heterosexizmus
- heterosexizmusDiscrimination in favor of heterosexuals
Spanish heterosexismo
- heterosexismoDiscrimination in favor of heterosexuals
Swedish heterosexism
- heterosexismDiscrimination in favor of heterosexuals
Cite this entry
APA
heterosexism. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/heterosexism
MLA
“heterosexism.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/heterosexism. Accessed November 4, 2026.
Chicago
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “heterosexism,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/heterosexism.
Source: heterosexism on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.