Meanings
plural transvestites
- datedA person who sometimes wears clothes traditionally worn by and associated with the opposite sex; typically a male who cross-dresses occasionally by habit or personal choice.
Even though Steven used to dress up in his sister's clothes, it still came as a surprise he ended up as a transvestite.
1 more example
Now, we already know that Gerald Hadleigh was a transvestite or a transsexual, whatever the term is.
1998 March 29, Anthony Horowitz et al., “Written in Blood”, in Midsomer MurdersSynonyms: cross-dresser, TV, tranny, transy
- clinical psychologyA person, typically a heterosexual male, who compulsively seeks and derives paraphilic sexual arousal from cross-dressing, especially if the urges and behavior cause the patient distress or social impairment.
- datedbiologyAn animal that engages in sexual mimicry.
1 more example
"Proper" scorpion fly behavior entails the catching of an edible insect by the male, who then offers it to the female […] If she likes the gift, she mates with the male. Thornhill, however, has observed males approaching other males, assuming the female role until they get a grip on the food. Once they have it, they try to run away with it. The "transvestite" males, according to Thornhill, have an advantage over the other males because they have others do the hunting for them, leaving the "transvestites" more time to reproduce. In additon ^([sic]), the "transvestite" scorpion flies would avoid such hazards of the hunt as spider webs.
1979 August 18, “Get A Grip On The Food”, in Gay Community News, volume 7, number 5, page 2
Synonyms & antonyms
nounA person who sometimes wears clothes traditionally worn by and associated with the opposite sex; typically a male who cross-dresses occasionally by habit or personal choice.
More synonyms by meaning
adjectivereceiving sexual gratification from wearing clothing of the opposite sex
nounsomeone who adopts the dress or manner or sexual role of the opposite sex
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
- GermanTransvestitismus
- Latintrāns
- Englishtransvestite
Borrowed from Latin trāns + vestītus, form of vestiō (“to clothe, to dress”) (as in English vestment, vest). Literally, a "cross-dresser". From transvestitism, from German Transvestitismus, coined in 1910 by Magnus Hirschfeld (the practice itself is much older).
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Bulgarian травестит
- травестит (travestit)cross-dresser — see also cross-dresser
Catalan transvestit, transvestida
- transvestitcross-dresser — see also cross-dresser
- transvestidacross-dresser — see also cross-dresser
- travestícross-dresser — see also cross-dresser
Chinese Cantonese 契弟
- 契弟 (kai³ dai⁶)cross-dresser — see also cross-dresser
Chinese Mandarin 異裝癖者 /异装癖者
- 異裝癖者 /异装癖者 (yìzhuāngpǐzhě)cross-dresser — see also cross-dresser
Czech transvestita
- transvestitacross-dresser — see also cross-dresser
Danish transvestit
- transvestitcross-dresser — see also cross-dresser
Dutch travestiet
- travestietcross-dresser — see also cross-dresser
Esperanto transvestulo, transvestulino
- transvestulocross-dresser — see also cross-dresser
- transvestulinocross-dresser — see also cross-dresser
Finnish transvestiitti, tiitti
- transvestiitticross-dresser — see also cross-dresser
- tiitticross-dresser — see also cross-dresser
French travesti, travelo
- travesticross-dresser — see also cross-dresser
- travelocross-dresser — see also cross-dresser
German Transvestit, Transvestitin
- Transvestitcross-dresser — see also cross-dresser
- Transvestitincross-dresser — see also cross-dresser
- Transecross-dresser — see also cross-dresser
- Transicross-dresser — see also cross-dresser
Greek τραβεστί
- τραβεστί (travestí)cross-dresser — see also cross-dresser
Hungarian transzvesztita
- transzvesztitacross-dresser — see also cross-dresser
Indonesian banci
- bancicross-dresser — see also cross-dresser
Irish trasfheisteoir
- trasfheisteoircross-dresser — see also cross-dresser
Italian travestito
- travestitocross-dresser — see also cross-dresser
Japanese 異性装者
- 異性装者 (iseisōsha)cross-dresser — see also cross-dresser
Norwegian Bokmål transvestitt
- transvestittcross-dresser — see also cross-dresser
Polish transwestyta, transwestytka
- transwestytacross-dresser — see also cross-dresser
- transwestytkacross-dresser — see also cross-dresser
Portuguese travesti
- travesticross-dresser — see also cross-dresser
Russian трансвести́т
- трансвести́т (transvestít)cross-dresser — see also cross-dresser
Spanish travesti, transformista
- travesticross-dresser — see also cross-dresser
- transformistacross-dresser — see also cross-dresser
- transfórmercross-dresser — see also cross-dresser
- tracacross-dresser — see also cross-dresser
- transvesticross-dresser — see also cross-dresser
- trasvestistacross-dresser — see also cross-dresser
- travestícross-dresser — see also cross-dresser
- travestidocross-dresser — see also cross-dresser
Swedish transvestit
- transvestitcross-dresser — see also cross-dresser
Turkish travesti
- travesticross-dresser — see also cross-dresser
Cite this entry
transvestite. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/transvestite
“transvestite.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/transvestite. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “transvestite,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/transvestite.
Source: transvestite on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.