sex

noun

1 male or female

ADJECTIVE

▪ female, male

▪ opposite

▪

At that age they can start becoming shy with the opposite sex.

▪ same

▪

people of the same sex

▪

same-sex couples/partners

▪

same-sex relationships/marriages/weddings

▪ fair, fairer, gentle, weaker (= women; some women may find these terms offensive) (humorous)

▪

They tend to consider women as the weaker sex in need of care and protection.

VERB + SEX

▪ determine

▪

ultrasound tests to determine the sex of a baby

▪

Sex is determined by chromosomal content.

▪ change

▪

For a long time I wanted to change my sex.

▪ be attracted to

▪

to be attracted to the opposite sex

SEX + NOUN

▪ change

▪

to have a sex change

▪

a sex-change operation

▪ equality

▪

issues of sex equality in the office

▪ discrimination, inequality

▪ ratio

▪ difference

▪

The theory predicts sex differences in the brain.

▪ chromosome

▪

the X and Y sex chromosomes

▪ hormone

PREPOSITION

▪ between the sexes

▪

differences/inequalities/relations between the sexes

PHRASES

▪ the battle of the sexes

▪

The quiz is a battle of the sexes between teams of male and female students.

▪ equality between the sexes, equality of the sexes

▪ on (the) grounds of sex (BrE)

▪

discrimination on grounds of sex

▪ irrespective of sex, regardless of sex

▪

The word ‘man’ can refer to all humans, irrespective of sex.

▪ a member of the opposite sex

▪

This will help us meet attractive members of the opposite sex.

2 sexual intercourse

ADJECTIVE

▪ anal, oral, penetrative (esp. BrE), vaginal (esp. AmE)

▪ gay, homosexual, lesbian

▪ heterosexual, straight

▪ good, great, hot, passionate, wild

▪ rough

▪ kinky

▪ safe

▪

Always practise/practice safe sex!

▪ unprotected, unsafe

▪ consensual, non-consensual

▪ extramarital, illicit, premarital

▪ anonymous, casual, promiscuous

▪ group

▪ public (= sex in public places)

▪ explicit, graphic, gratuitous, hard-core, steamy

▪

Movies containing scenes of explicit sex are banned.

▪ Internet, phone

▪ underage, unlawful (BrE)

▪

He was convicted of having unlawful sex with an underage girl.

▪ teen (esp. AmE), teenage

VERB + SEX

▪ engage in, have

▪

She had never had sex before.

▪ consent to

▪ refuse

▪ get, obtain

SEX + NOUN

▪ life

▪

a healthy sex life

▪ drive, urge

▪

a low sex drive

▪ appeal

▪

Despite his age, he still has a lot of sex appeal.

▪ act

▪

photos showing sex acts

▪ therapist, therapy

▪ partner (esp. AmE)

▪

I have had several sex partners over the years.

▪ organ

▪ education

▪

She is an advocate of abstinence-only sex education. (AmE)

▪

comprehensive sex education (esp. AmE)

▪ scandal

▪ abuse, assault (esp. BrE), attack (BrE), crime, offence/offense

▪

He was arrested for sex crimes.

▪ fiend (informal), offender, pest (BrE, informal)

▪

convicted sex offenders

▪

registered sex offenders

▪ addict, maniac

▪

He had a reputation of being a sex maniac.

▪ film, scene, show

▪ comedy

▪ kitten, symbol

▪

She wants to be known as a singer rather than as a sex symbol.

▪ object

▪

Women are viewed as sex objects and exploited to sell products.

▪ club, shop

▪ aid, toy

▪ industry

▪ worker

▪

In this zone, prostitution is legal, but sex workers must be at least 18.

▪ tourism

▪ trafficking

▪

to crack down on international sex trafficking

▪ slave

PREPOSITION

▪ sex between

▪

sex between consenting adults

▪ sex with

▪

sex with her husband

PHRASES

▪ sex, drugs and rock 'n' roll (humorous)

▪ sex and violence

▪

sex and violence in today's liberal media

▪ sex outside of marriage

▪

They teach that sex outside of marriage is wrong.

▪ sex sells

▪

Sex sells, the advertisers believe.