parasexual

P3A1R1A1S1E1X8U1A1L1

adjective

Exhibiting or relating to parasexuality.

OriginEnglish sexual ← Latin sexuālis ← Proto-Indo-European *h₂élisder.? →
Scrabble 19
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Meanings

adjectiveparasexual (not comparable)
  1. not comparablebiologyExhibiting or relating to parasexuality.
  2. not comparableBoth parasocial and sexual; being or relating to a one-sided sexual relationship.
    1 more example

    Cognizant of but careful not to lend credence to other fans' eroticization of John and Paul's collaboration, this poster echoes the first in valuing the feminine bond between male personae, thereby conceiving them as one unit and implicitly placing others outside this parasocial (or parasexual) relationship, and the relationship between fan and idols, as interlopers.

    2007, Christine Scodari, “Yoko in Cyberspace with Beatles Fans: Gender and the Re-Creation of Popular Mythology”, in Jonathan Gray, C. Lee Harrington, Cornel Sandvoss, editors, Fandom: Identities and Communities in a Mediated World, New York, NY: New York University Press, →ISBN, page 55
  3. not comparableRelated indirectly to sex; pertaining to sexuality but not sex itself.

    The parasexual object is more likely to appeal than the pornographic, especially in a culture with highly ambivalent attitudes to female sexuality.

    2004, P. J. P. Goldberg, Felicity Riddy, Youth in the Middle Ages, Boydell & Brewer, →ISBN, page 53
    1 more example

    These were not the "real" gay ads - the ones that appear in The Advocate, Blue Boy, and Mandate. These markets had already been targeted y the ad agencies: disco records, see-through underwear, body building equipment and a host of para-sexual paraphernalia were being manufactured and sold to the smart consumer queen.

    1982 April 17, Michael Bronsky, “What Are These Men Really Selling and Whom Are They Trying to Fool”, in Gay Community News, page 6

Origin

  1. Proto-Indo-European*per-
  2. Proto-Indo-European*preh₂-
  3. Proto-Hellenic*pərai
  4. Ancient Greekπᾰρᾰ́ (părắ)
  5. Ancient Greekπᾰρᾰ- (pără-)
  6. Englishpara-
  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. Englishparasexual

From para- + sexual.

Full word history & related roots →
Cite this entry
APA

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

MLA

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

Chicago

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

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