Usage of Homosexual
The adjective homosexual has been decreasing in use in published, edited text since the late 20th century, and is now sometimes considered offensive, since the word can be seen as evoking negative stereotypes and outdated clinical understandings of homosexuality as a psychiatric condition. The term has largely been replaced by gay, which can describe sexual or romantic attraction or activity between men or between women; by lesbian, which applies only to the latter; or by inclusive abbreviations such as LGBT ("lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender").
Usage of Homosexual
The noun homosexual has seen a decrease in use in published, edited text since the mid-1990s and is now often regarded as offensive, since the word can be seen as evoking negative stereotypes and outdated clinical understandings of homosexuality as a psychiatric condition. Phrases that employ the adjectives gay and lesbian tend to be preferred, as in "a gay man," "a lesbian couple," "gay people," etc.
Examples of homosexual in a Sentence
Brian Welk, IndieWire, 27 Aug. 2025
Sounds pretty homosexual to me.
—Ana Osorno, Them., 26 Aug. 2025
Baldwin ended up directing this play, Fortune and Men’s Eyes, which was this homosexual prison play in a very socially conservative country.
—Fiction Non Fiction
august 21, Literary Hub, 21 Aug. 2025
There’s no reason to believe that the proportion of men and women who were homosexual in 1885 was significantly different from the numbers now.
—Lynette Rice, Deadline, 10 Aug. 2025
In prior cases, Colorado allowed cake bakers to refuse to adorn a cake with Bible verses denouncing homosexual acts.
—The Editors, National Review, 30 Jan. 2023
The Vatican has said previously that homosexuality shouldn’t carry criminal penalties, though Catholic teaching forbids homosexual acts.
—Francis X. Rocca, WSJ, 25 Jan. 2023
It’s not much of an exaggeration to say that close to everyone prominently featured in Young Bloomsbury was homosexual.
—John Tamny, Forbes, 28 Dec. 2022
The Economist specifically cited a pair of 13th and 14th-century poets, Rumi and Hafiz, who lived in modern-day Iran and often wrote about homosexual relationships.
—Justin Klawans, The Week, 24 Nov. 2022
Jesse Whittock, Deadline, 12 Aug. 2025
Yes in 21st century being homosexual is a punishable crime in Iran and now she and Elham Chobdar are sentenced to be executed.
—Benjamin Weinthal, Fox News, 6 Sep. 2022
Billy Eichner, noted homosexual, found himself the target of some odd gossip when a clickbait article touting his relationship with Noelle costar Anna Kendrick went viral.
—Lester Fabian Brathwaite, EW.com, 19 June 2022
Every single homosexual in our country should be charged with a crime.
—Minyvonne Burke, NBC News, 9 June 2022
In 1895, Oscar Wilde had his boyfriend’s father, the Marquess of Queensberry, arrested for accurately suggesting that Wilde was a homosexual.
—Kyle Smith, National Review, 14 Apr. 2022
Ah yes, the avid-young-reader-to-homosexual pipeline.
—Ashley Shannon Wu, Vulture, 16 Feb. 2022
When his roommate at the Naval Academy said jokingly last year that Andrew Atwill was a homosexual, the midshipman told him to cut it out.
—Taylor Deville, baltimoresun.com, 4 Aug. 2021
There were also some differences between homosexual and heterosexuals in both groups.
—Neuroskeptic, Discover Magazine, 5 Oct. 2011
Cite this Entry
“Homosexual.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/homosexual. Accessed 5 Sep. 2025.
Copy CitationKids Definition
homosexual
1 of 2 adjective
homosexual
2 of 2 nounMedical Definition
homosexual
1 of 2 adjective
Note: The adjective homosexual has been decreasing in use in published, edited text since the late 20th century, and is now sometimes considered offensive. The term has largely been replaced by gay, which can describe sexual or romantic attraction or activity between men or between women; by lesbian, which applies only to the latter; or by inclusive abbreviations such as LGBT ("lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender").
homosexual
2 of 2 nounNote: The noun homosexual has seen a decrease in use in published, edited text since the mid-1990s and is now often regarded as offensive; instead, phrases that employ the adjectives gay and lesbian tend to be preferred, as in "a gay man," "a lesbian couple," "gay people," etc.
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