lesbian

1 of 2

adjective

les·bi·an ˈlez-bē-ən

: of, relating to, or characterized by sexual or romantic attraction to other women or between women

gay and lesbian veterans

a lesbian relationship

Lesbian : of or relating to Lesbos

lesbian

2 of 2

noun

plural lesbians

: a woman who is sexually or romantically attracted to other women : a gay woman

lesbians and gay men

Example Sentences

Recent Examples on the Web

Adjective

Those identifying as lesbian or gay were found to have nearly 1.9 times higher rates, identifying as bisexual nearly 3.3 times higher rates, and identifying as questioning 1.5 times higher rates compared to heterosexual students. —

Mary Kekatos, ABC News, 27 Apr. 2023 Bentley left New York in the late 1930s and performed throughout California, most notably Mona’s 440 Club, the first lesbian bar in San Francisco. —

Jillian Eugenios, NBC News, 24 Apr. 2023 And in 1955, the first lesbian rights organization, the Daughters of Bilitis, began. —

Clare Mulroy, USA TODAY, 10 Apr. 2023 O'Donnell famously came out in 2002, after playing a lesbian mom on an episode of Will & Grace. —

Drew Mackie, Peoplemag, 21 Mar. 2023 Vice President Kamala Harris recalled officiating at a lesbian wedding in San Francisco. —

Chris Megerian, ajc, 14 Dec. 2022 But more children’s programs are including gay and lesbian characters in recent years. —

Rachel Hatzipanagos, Washington Post, 23 Apr. 2023 The brand, in turn, participates in continuing efforts to support and preserve the 27 lesbian bars left in the country. —

Forbes, 20 Apr. 2023 Plenty of other gay and lesbian soldiers have also posted photos and videos of themselves online, some sporting unicorn insignia on their uniform, the mythical creature an ironic riposte to the idea that there are no LGBTQ people in the military. —

Matt Bradley, NBC News, 16 Apr. 2023

Noun

Elliot is a rapacious, omnivorous lush with a God complex; Beverly is a repressed, anxious lesbian with a morality complex. —

The Rachel Weisz Gay Index, Vulture, 24 Apr. 2023 Later in the 1970s, Anita Bryant, a celebrity of the religious right, borrowed from segregationist parental rights rhetoric, launching a group called Save Our Children that successfully fought to roll back civil rights ordinances for gays and lesbians. —

Mary Ziegler, CNN, 30 Mar. 2023 Their split was announced nearly two years after Braunwyn came out as a lesbian. —

Dave Quinn, Peoplemag, 15 Feb. 2023 Coming out as a lesbian in country music would be fraught with complexity and loaded with emotion. —

Chely Wright, Variety, 12 Feb. 2023 Does Bacon look like an elder lesbian in his tank top, tight jeans, sunglasses, and trucker hat? —

Emma Specter, Vogue, 2 Sep. 2022 The movie reveals the ways Chasing Amy inspired and comforted the director as a kid, while also documenting the LGBTQ+ community's criticisms of this romance between a straight man and a lesbian. —

Clark Collis, EW.com, 4 May 2023 The 27-year-old stars in the television series Yellowjackets as a teenage soccer goalkeeper named Van Palmer, who is also a lesbian. —

Julia Johnson, Washington Examiner, 2 May 2023 Its other rulings over the past decade have brought rights of gay, lesbian and transgender people to the forefront, including one in 2014 that recognized transgender people as a third gender. —

Shan Li, wsj.com, 29 Apr. 2023 See More

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'lesbian.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

Etymology

Adjective

(sense 1) from association with the ardent poetry written by Sappho of Lesbos (c. 610-c. 580 b.c.) to and about other women in the female religious and educational community she led

First Known Use

Adjective

1559, in the meaning defined at sense 2

Noun

1732, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler

The first known use of lesbian was in 1559

See more words from the same year