pansexual

P3A1N1S1E1X8U1A1L1
US/pænˈsɛk.ʃu.əl/

adjective

Sexually attracted to people regardless of gender or sex.

UncommonScrabble 18

Meanings

adjectivepansexual (not comparable)

alternative pan-sexual

  1. not comparableSexually attracted to people regardless of gender or sex.

    As a writer/sexologist, he argues that people are neither homosexual nor heterosexual but pansexual.

    1995, Owen McNally, “The Vigor, Venom and Wit of Gore Vidal”, in Hartford Courant, archived from the original on 30 Jun 2013, page E1
    3 more examples

    Karen and Carlos are definitely pansexual people who have paired off to have this child, and this seems real and good to them now. When I had been with Karen, she had floated through several gay relationships, […] all my friends had been what I would call pansexual, avoiding the older term bisexual, which is meaningless when you can count more than two sexes.

    1970–1972 (printed in compiled form in 1973), Ramparts, page 25

    Obviously many women who answered the survey considered themselves bisexual in the past no longer do. Perceiving oneself as bisexual was often a stage of transition between heterosexuality and homosexuality. But others did consider and still consider themselves bisexual. Here are some stories of bisexual or pansexual women and some comments about [...]

    1979, Karla Jay, Allen Young, The Gay Report: Lesbians and Gay Men Speak Out

    CUMMING: Bisexual, I suppose... No, pansexual. Some bloke in a newspaper called me a "frolicky pansexual sex symbol for the new millennium." I thought that was fabulous.

    1999, Steven Drukman, “Cumming Attraction”, in Out, page 82
  2. not comparableSexually attracted to everyone.

    To the end he [Walt Whitman] denied that he was homosexual; his writings are pansexual, finding carnal ripeness in the soul, in nature, as well as in men and women.

    2004, John Leland, Hip: The History, →ISBN, page 50
  3. not comparableWelcoming people of all sexual orientations.

    We like to attend pansexual group sex parties, which means that attendees may identify as gay or lesbian or bisexual or hetero or transgendered, but are generally comfortable and happy to play side-by-side with people whose desires may be entirely different than their own.

    1998, Dossie Easton, Catherine A. Liszt, The Ethical Slut, →ISBN, page 262
  4. not comparablehuman sciencesPertaining to the psychological theory of pansexualism.
nounpansexual (plural pansexuals)

plural pansexuals

  1. Someone who is attracted to all types of people regardless of gender or sex.
  2. InternethumorousoffensivesometimesA person who is attracted to frying pans.

Synonyms & antonyms

Also see

Origin

  1. Proto-Indo-European*peh₂-
  2. Proto-Indo-European*ph₂énts?
  3. Proto-Hellenic*pánts
  4. Ancient Greekπᾶς (pâs)
  5. Ancient Greekπᾰν- (păn-)
  6. Englishpan-
  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. Englishsexual
  20. Englishpansexual

From pan- + -sexual. First attested in 1926 (with pansexualism attested since 1917), as a descriptor of the psychological theory that all human activity is based on sexuality. Used to describe a sexual orientation since at least the 1970s.

Full word history & related roots →

Translations

Bengali সর্বকামী
  • সর্বকামী (śorbokami)someone who is attracted to all genders
Esperanto ĉiuseksema, ĉiuseksema
  • ĉiuseksemasexually attracted to all genders
  • ĉiuseksemasomeone who is attracted to all genders
  • ajnseksemasomeone who is attracted to all genders
French pansexuel
  • pansexuelsomeone who is attracted to all genders
German pansexuell, pan
  • pansexuellsomeone who is attracted to all genders
  • pansomeone who is attracted to all genders
Hindi सर्वलैंगिक
  • सर्वलैंगिक (sarvlaiṅgik)sexually attracted to all genders
Hungarian pánszexuális
  • pánszexuálissomeone who is attracted to all genders
Icelandic alkynhneigður, alkynhneigð
  • alkynhneigðursexually attracted to all genders
  • alkynhneigðsomeone who is attracted to all genders
Indonesian panseksual
  • panseksualsexually attracted to all genders
Irish ilghnéasach
  • ilghnéasachsomeone who is attracted to all genders
Italian pansessuale
  • pansessualesexually attracted to all genders
Norwegian panseksuell
  • panseksuellsomeone who is attracted to all genders
Polish panseksualny
  • panseksualnysomeone who is attracted to all genders
Portuguese pansexual, pansexual
  • pansexualsexually attracted to all genders
  • pansexualsomeone who is attracted to all genders
Russian пансексуальный
  • пансексуальный (panseksualʹnyj)sexually attracted to all genders
Spanish pansexual
  • pansexualsomeone who is attracted to all genders
Swedish pansexuell
  • pansexuellsomeone who is attracted to all genders
Welsh panrywiol
  • panrywiolsexually attracted to all genders
Cite this entry
APA

pansexual. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/pansexual

MLA

“pansexual.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/pansexual. Accessed November 2, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “pansexual,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/pansexual.

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