a term that is used in medicine particularly, to describe individuals who have engaged in sexual activity; this is not simply vaginal penetrative sex, but includes oral and anal sex, and other sexual behaviours such as manual sex (hand jobs, fingering, etc).

The term is vague and can be misinterpreted: an individual who has had sex before but hasn’t for a while may not see themselves as “sexually active”, but this is wrong. When a doctor asks you if you are sexually active, it is on the basis that they can rule out or consider sexual-related concerns in your diagnosis, such as STIs, or in order to offer contraception.

Put simply, if you’ve ever engaged in sexual behaviour, you are sexually active.