hypersexuality

H4Y4P3E1R1S1E1X8U1A1L1I1T1Y4

noun

Excessive desire for sexual activity, especially when considered high enough to be clinically significant.

Opposite
hyposexuality
OriginEnglish sexuality ← New Latin sexuālitā ← Latin sexuālis →
Scrabble 32
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Meanings

nounhypersexuality (usually uncountable, plural hypersexualities)

plural hypersexualities

  1. uncountableusuallyExcessive desire for sexual activity, especially when considered high enough to be clinically significant.

    For example, there are many reports of hypersexuality following traumatic brain injury to frontal regions. Although disinhibition is one common consequence of frontal lesions, not all frontal lesions will result in hypersexuality, […]

    2010, Encyclopedia of Behavioral Neuroscience, Elsevier, →ISBN, page 96
    1 more example

    Is promiscuity a cover for an underlying despair? Perhaps my own hypersexuality has served a narcissism I dare not face: a surface vanity (which must constantly be reinforced) concealing an inner doubt about my own importance as a human being.

    1983 August 13, Richard Royal, “AIDS and Promiscuity”, in Gay Community News, volume 11, number 5, page 6

    Antonyms: hyposexuality

Synonyms & antonyms

nounExcessive desire for sexual activity, especially when considered high enough to be clinically significant.

Opposite
hyposexuality

Origin

  1. Proto-Indo-European*úp
  2. Proto-Indo-European*upér
  3. Proto-Hellenic*hupér
  4. Ancient Greekῠ̔πέρ (hŭpér)
  5. Ancient Greekῠ̔περ- (hŭper-)
  6. Englishhyper-
  7. Proto-Indo-European*sek-
  8. Proto-Indo-European*séks-u-s
  9. Proto-Italic*seksus
  10. Proto-Indo-European*sek-
  11. Proto-Indo-European*sékh₁yeti
  12. Proto-Italic*sekaō
  13. Latinsecō
  14. Latinsecāre?
  15. Latinsexus
  16. Proto-Indo-European*h₂el-
  17. Proto-Indo-European*h₂élisder.?
  18. Latinsexuālis
  19. New Latinsexuālitā
  20. Englishsexuality
  21. Englishhypersexuality

From hyper- + sexuality.

Full word history & related roots →

Translations

Chinese Mandarin 性慾亢進 /性欲亢进
  • 性慾亢進 /性欲亢进 (xìngyù kàngjìn)extreme libido
Estonian hüperseksuaalsus
  • hüperseksuaalsusextreme libido
Finnish hyperseksuaalisuus
  • hyperseksuaalisuusextreme libido
French hypersexualité
  • hypersexualitéextreme libido
German Hypersexualität
  • Hypersexualitätextreme libido
Italian ipersessualità
  • ipersessualitàextreme libido
Japanese 異常性欲
  • 異常性欲 (ijō-seiyoku)extreme libido
Portuguese hipersexualidade
  • hipersexualidadeextreme libido
Russian гиперсексуа́льность
  • гиперсексуа́льность (gipersɛksuálʹnostʹ)extreme libido
Spanish hipersexualidad
  • hipersexualidadextreme libido
Swedish hypersexualitet
  • hypersexualitetextreme libido
Vietnamese chứng cuồng dâm
  • chứng cuồng dâmextreme libido
Cite this entry
APA

hypersexuality. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/hypersexuality

MLA

“hypersexuality.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/hypersexuality. Accessed November 3, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “hypersexuality,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/hypersexuality.

Source: hypersexuality on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.