Meanings
plural retrosexuals · alternative retro-sexual
- A man who embraces traditional masculinity in his dress and behavior.
Think of him as the anti-metrosexual, the opposite of that guy who emerged in the 1990s in all his pedicured, moussed-up, skinny-jeans glory. That man-boy was searching for his inner girl, it was argued. The retrosexual, however, wants to put the man back into manhood.
2010 April 7, Lini S. Kadaba, Philadelphia Inquirer - humorousOne who has not had sex in a very long time.
It's been so long I've become a retrosexual.
Origin
Blend of retro + metrosexual. Apparently coined in the early 2000s by blogger Grau Magus.
Full word history & related roots →Cite this entry
retrosexual. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/retrosexual
“retrosexual.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/retrosexual. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “retrosexual,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/retrosexual.
Source: retrosexual on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.