promiscuous

adjective

pro·mis·cu·ous prə-ˈmi-skyə-wəs How to pronounce promiscuous (audio)

: having or involving many sexual partners : not restricted to one sexual partner or few sexual partners

: not restricted to one class, sort, or person : indiscriminate

education … cheapened through the promiscuous distribution of diplomas

Norman Cousins

: casual, irregular

promiscuous eating habits

: composed of all sorts of persons or things

promiscuously adverb

promiscuousness noun

Did you know?

The Multiple Meanings of Promiscuous

Promiscuous (from Latin promiscuus “without distinction, taken from every different type”) has a range of meanings in English. The oldest of these is “composed of all sorts of persons and things” (as in “a promiscuous array of books” or “the promiscuous company at the tavern”). This meaning suggests a random assortment, not necessarily with negative implications.

Within the last few hundred years, promiscuous has added the usually negatively-tinged meanings “indiscriminate” (“promiscuous destruction by bombing”), “casual or careless” (“the president’s promiscuous dishonesty”), and of course, “not restricted to one sexual partner.”

Does this mean that the word itself is promiscuous? Not at all. It is not uncommon for English words to display this polysemous (“having multiple meanings”) character, and promiscuous is actually on the tidy end of the spectrum, as far as these things go. Some English words have dozens of meanings.

Example Sentences

a promiscuous selection of poems since I just collect stamps that I happen to like, my collection is pretty promiscuous

Recent Examples on the Web But car companies can be promiscuous—Stellantis is also working with Samsung SDI on a battery joint venture in Indiana that is due to come online in 2025.

Jonathan M. Gitlin, Ars Technica, 29 Aug. 2022 In one, two elderly women, one a virgin and one promiscuous, platonically raise a family together; in another, a teenage girl has a romance with the billowing curtain in her bedroom.

WIRED, 26 Aug. 2022 Sonny is famously, even disastrously, hot headed and promiscuous.

Mark Feeney, BostonGlobe.com, 7 July 2022 There’s also a very typical stereotype that gay men are promiscuous and flirty and out at the club.

Amy Shoenthal, Forbes, 24 June 2022 DeLillo takes a promiscuous approach to history, placing fictional Everymen alongside real-life bigwigs like Frank Sinatra and J. Edgar Hoover.

Alice Mcdermott, New York Times, 22 June 2022 Female creatures are just as promiscuous, competitive, aggressive and dynamic as their male counterparts and play an equal role in driving evolutionary change, according to author Lucy Cooke.

Katie Hunt, CNN, 18 June 2022 Some praised Madonna for her response to the AIDS crisis, while others seized on allegations from a 1991 biography that claimed Nancy Reagan was notoriously promiscuous during her career as a Hollywood actress.

Grayson Quay, The Week, 14 June 2022 Male animals are aggressively promiscuous, but their female counterparts are coy, choosy and chaste.

Katie Hunt, CNN, 12 June 2022 See More

单词	promiscuous
释义	promiscuous adjective pro·mis·cu·ous prə-ˈmi-skyə-wəs 1 : having or involving many sexual partners : not restricted to one sexual partner or few sexual partners 2 : not restricted to one class, sort, or person : indiscriminate education … cheapened through the promiscuous distribution of diplomas Norman Cousins 3 : casual, irregular promiscuous eating habits 4 : composed of all sorts of persons or things promiscuously adverb promiscuousness noun Did you know? The Multiple Meanings of Promiscuous Promiscuous (from Latin promiscuus “without distinction, taken from every different type”) has a range of meanings in English. The oldest of these is “composed of all sorts of persons and things” (as in “a promiscuous array of books” or “the promiscuous company at the tavern”). This meaning suggests a random assortment, not necessarily with negative implications. Within the last few hundred years, promiscuous has added the usually negatively-tinged meanings “indiscriminate” (“promiscuous destruction by bombing”), “casual or careless” (“the president’s promiscuous dishonesty”), and of course, “not restricted to one sexual partner.” Does this mean that the word itself is promiscuous? Not at all. It is not uncommon for English words to display this polysemous (“having multiple meanings”) character, and promiscuous is actually on the tidy end of the spectrum, as far as these things go. Some English words have dozens of meanings. Synonyms assorted eclectic heterogeneous indiscriminate kitchen-sink magpie miscellaneous mixed motley patchwork piebald raggle-taggle ragtag varied See all Synonyms & Antonyms Example Sentences a promiscuous selection of poems since I just collect stamps that I happen to like, my collection is pretty promiscuous Recent Examples on the Web But car companies can be promiscuous—Stellantis is also working with Samsung SDI on a battery joint venture in Indiana that is due to come online in 2025. Jonathan M. Gitlin, Ars Technica, 29 Aug. 2022 In one, two elderly women, one a virgin and one promiscuous, platonically raise a family together; in another, a teenage girl has a romance with the billowing curtain in her bedroom. WIRED, 26 Aug. 2022 Sonny is famously, even disastrously, hot headed and promiscuous. Mark Feeney, BostonGlobe.com, 7 July 2022 There’s also a very typical stereotype that gay men are promiscuous and flirty and out at the club. Amy Shoenthal, Forbes, 24 June 2022 DeLillo takes a promiscuous approach to history, placing fictional Everymen alongside real-life bigwigs like Frank Sinatra and J. Edgar Hoover. Alice Mcdermott, New York Times, 22 June 2022 Female creatures are just as promiscuous, competitive, aggressive and dynamic as their male counterparts and play an equal role in driving evolutionary change, according to author Lucy Cooke. Katie Hunt, CNN, 18 June 2022 Some praised Madonna for her response to the AIDS crisis, while others seized on allegations from a 1991 biography that claimed Nancy Reagan was notoriously promiscuous during her career as a Hollywood actress. Grayson Quay, The Week, 14 June 2022 Male animals are aggressively promiscuous, but their female counterparts are coy, choosy and chaste. Katie Hunt, CNN, 12 June 2022 See More Word History Etymology Latin promiscuus, from pro- forth + miscēre to mix — more at pro-, mix First Known Use 1570, in the meaning defined at sense 4 Medical Definition promiscuous adjective pro·mis·cu·ous prə-ˈmis-kyə-wəs : not restricted to one sexual partner promiscuous adjective as in eclectic consisting of many things of different sorts since I just collect stamps that I happen to like, my collection is pretty promiscuous Synonyms & Similar Words Relevance eclectic varied mixed indiscriminate diverse assorted heterogeneous messy chaotic miscellaneous magpie patchwork motley raggle-taggle littered multifarious various ragtag piebald confused disordered divergent kitchen-sink combined multiplex disparate manifold cluttered disheveled muddled multiple sundry dishevelled messed jumbled intermingled intermixed hybrid disarranged mingled commingled blended fused composite disarrayed amalgamated myriad incorporated conglomerate unclassified commixed merged unsorted farraginous conglomerated Antonyms & Near Antonyms homogeneous same uniform like identical monolithic individual distinctive alike distinct separate See More
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promiscuous

adjective

Did you know?

Synonyms

Example Sentences

Word History

Medical Definition

adjective

adjective