the opposite sex
noun
: the people who are not the same sex : the other sex
—used by men to refer to women or by women to refer to men
He's never been comfortable around (members of) the opposite sex.
Examples of the opposite sex in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
Virginia Attorney General Jason Miyares referred LCPS to federal authorities, accusing the school agency of improperly targeting three male students not for misconduct, but for expressing discomfort about sharing a locker room with a member of the opposite sex, according to Fox 5 DC.
—
Michael Dorgan, FOXNews.com, 19 Aug. 2025
The study also examined six cockatoos from the Wagga Wagga zoo in Australia, pairing them with birds of the opposite sex, and exposing them to different settings including music, podcasts and silence.
—Maria Azzurra Volpe, MSNBC Newsweek, 6 Aug. 2025
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Michael Dorgan, FOXNews.com, 19 Aug. 2025
The study also examined six cockatoos from the Wagga Wagga zoo in Australia, pairing them with birds of the opposite sex, and exposing them to different settings including music, podcasts and silence.
—Maria Azzurra Volpe, MSNBC Newsweek, 6 Aug. 2025
Cite this Entry
“The opposite sex.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/the%20opposite%20sex. Accessed 9 Sep. 2025.
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