an individual on the asexual spectrum, who finds their sexuality fluctuates between being asexual and allosexual.

The romantic equivalent is aroflux.

an asexual spectrum identity, in which individuals experience arousal at the thought of sexual behaviours, but experience no or little sexual attraction towards other people, or someone who experiences sexual attraction, but does not want to participate in sex; for example, an individual may masturbate, watch pornography or watch other sexual content, but still not desire to engage in sexual behaviours with other people.

This may manifest in a myriad of ways, for example, an aegosexual individual may fantasise about watching other individuals engage in sex, and not about in engaging in it themselves.

Aegosexuality was previously known as autochorisexual, a term coined by Dr. Anthony Bogaert, a psychologist that specialised in human sexuality; however, it was considered a kind of psychological disorder (along with asexuality in general). Whilst some within that identity attempted to reclaim the term, others felt uncomfortable with the negative connotations, and aegosexual was coined by a Tumblr user named Sugar-and-Spite.

a less prominent alternative term to lithromantic (a form of romantic attraction on the aromantic spectrum in which individuals experience romantic attraction but do not want it to be reciprocated).

alternate term for lithosexual, although not as common (a form of sexual attraction on the asexual spectrum in which individuals experience sexual attraction but do not want it to be reciprocated).

an individual who is romantically, but not necessarily sexually attracted, to men, male-aligned people and/or masculinity (e.g. masculine expression). An androromantic person may not necessarily be androsexual.

Androromantic individuals may not consider themselves to be homoromantic or heteroromantic, as it may be an attraction to masculinity regardless of gender identity, or describe a nonbinary person’s attraction to masculinity where homo/hetero labels may not be applicable. 

An individual who is primarily attracted – sexually, romantically and/or emotionally – to masculinity, male-align people, masculine expression and/or men, regardless of gender identity or whether they were assigned male at birth, and without reference to one’s own gender identity: as such androsexual people may not be heterosexual or homosexual; for example, an androsexual person may be nonbinary, or attracted to those who are on the “masculine spectrum”, regardless of gender and sex.

Androsexuality is often used as alternative to homosexual/heterosexual in the attraction spectrum, where femininity (gynesexuality) is on one end, masculinity (androsexuality) on the other, and bisexuality inbetween. Androsexuality is also sometimes included in the bisexual+ umbrella.

an identity on the aromantic spectrum, in which an individual fluctuates between being aromantic and alloromantic.

an individual who experiences little or no romantic attraction (but may experience sexual attraction – e.g. aromantic/bisexual); as such aromantic people may not necessarily be asexual.

Aromantic is also an umbrella term for the wide array of identities that fall under the aromantic umbrella: such as demiromantic, lithromantic, frayromantic, greyromantic and others.

Aromanticism and aromantic identities are typically included in the asexual spectrum.

An umbrella term for a variation in romantic/sexual attractions on the asexual spectrum, but typically, an individual that experiences little or no sexual attraction to others, or those with a lack or little romantic attraction in others.

Those who are asexual may also have further labels to describe their romantic attractions (e.g. asexual, biromantic – someone having a romantic attraction to multiple genders, but no sexual attraction to them); demisexual, fraysexual, lithosexual, etc. Asexuals may not necessarily be aromantic.

an individual who is aroused by sexual material, thoughts and fantasies, but has no desire or ambition to seek sexual relations with other people; for example, an individual who may masturbate and watch pornography, but does not have any desire to engage in sexual behaviours with other people.

a person who experiences romantic, but not necessarily sexual, attractions to multiple or all genders. A biromantic person may not necessarily be bisexual.

a person who experiences romantic/sexual (or exclusively sexual when used with an -romantic qualifier) to multiple or all genders; somebody who is neither monosexual or asexual.

An increasingly common misconception is that bisexuality is an attraction to men and women exclusively, to the exclusion of nonbinary or transgender people, due to the prefix “bi”, meaning “two”, referring to the two extreme points of the gender binary. This has been fiercely rejected by the bisexual community; many of whom are transgender or nonbinary themselves.

The definition of bisexuality has also referred to being simultaneously heterosexual and homosexual in varying degrees (“homo-” meaning same, “hetero-” meaning different).

Bisexuality can also be seen as the middle spectrum between androsexuality and gynesexuality, or as being simultaneously androsexual and gynesexual. 

As a result, bisexuality – in the theoretical sense – encompasses a wide variety of other identities, such as polysexual, pansexual, bicurious, multisexual, omnisexual, etc. Together, these form what is known as the bisexual+ umbrella.

As such, bisexual people may also identify alongside other identities such as polysexual, omnisexual or pansexual, and it’s also important to note that pan, poly, omni, etc, people may not necessarily identify as bi as well.

Bisexuals may not necessarily experience attraction to every gender in similar amounts; for example, somebody who identifies as bisexual may be primarily more attracted to one gender more than another.

an individual who experiences no or little romantic attraction until a strong attachment of some sort is formed, such as an emotional attachment (or perhaps sexual connection) is formed. May be compounded to form gender orientations, e.g. demi-homoromantic.

an individual who experiences no or little sexual attraction until they have formed an emotional, romantic connection towards someone. It must be noted that demisexuals are not abstaining or choosing to be celibate until forming a romantic connection – they experience little or no sexual attraction whatsoever until a romantic bond is formed.

Related: demiromantic

an identity on the aromantic spectrum, in which the romantic attraction fades once the individual develops a deep connection. As such, it can be seen as a comparable ‘opposite’ to demiromantic.

an identity on the asexual spectrum, in which attraction fades once the individual develops a deep connection. As such, it can be seen as a comparable ‘opposite’ to demisexual.

an individual who is primarily, or solely, attracted to people of the same gender; e.g. gay men and gay women (lesbians) – homosexuals. It is also used – such as in the case of the gay community – to describe LGBT+ people as a collective.

Related: lesbian, gay man

a male-identified person who is also a homosexual: that is, a male-identified person who is attracted solely, or primarily, to other male-identified people.

an individual who experiences aromanticism – that is, little or no romantic attraction to others, but not to the extent of being completely aromantic: they may experience, in some degree or at fluctuating times, a romantic attraction to others, or a romantic attraction under certain circumstances.

This can manifest in a variety of different ways, from experiencing a very weak romantic attraction, experiencing romantic attraction very infrequently, experiencing romantic attraction but not wanting a romantic relationship, or experiencing a form of romantic attraction which is not aligned with the expectations of society and other alloromantic people.

As such, greyromantic is the romantic equivalent of greysexual.

an individual whose sexuality is somewhere on the asexual spectrum between asexual and allosexual; that is, that their asexuality isn’t “black or white”.

As such, grey-asexuality and greysexuals encompasses a wide variety of experiences and therefore definitions.

Demisexual is an example of a greysexual identity, although demisexual is more specific in that it is a lack of sexual attraction except when there is a strong emotional and romantic bond formed; this may not be the case with other greysexual people, whose capacity and potential for sexual attraction may be dependent on something else or different to the demisexual definition.

Can be used in combination with other identities, for example, homoromantic/greysexual.

There is a -romantic equivalent, greyromantic.

an individual who is romantically, but not necessarily sexually attracted, to women and/or femininity. A gyneromantic person may not necessarily be gynesexual.

Gyneromantic individuals may not consider themselves to be homoromantic or heteroromantic, as it may be an attraction to femininity regardless of gender identity, or describe a nonbinary person’s attraction to femininity where homo/hetero labels may not be applicable. 

an individual who is primarily attracted – sexually, romantically and/or emotionally – to femininity, feminine expression and/or women, regardless of gender identity or whether they were assigned female at birth, and without reference to one’s own gender identity: as such androsexual people may not be heterosexual or homosexual; for example, an androsexual person may be nonbinary, or attracted to those who are on the “masculine spectrum”, regardless of gender and sex.

Gynesexuality is often used as alternative in the attraction spectrum, where femininity is one end, masculinity on the other, and bisexuality inbetween. Gynesexuality is also sometimes included in the bisexual+ umbrella.

Alternative: gynephilic.

Related: androsexual

a bisexual+ identity in which an individual is primarily/mostly heterosexual, but occasionally or rarely experiences some same-gender attraction.

An individual who is exclusively or predominantly attracted to members of the opposite sex or gender; but may not be heterosexual.

For example, an asexual person who is heteroromantic.

Somebody who is straight in sexuality, that is not homosexual, bisexual+, asexual. An individual who is primarily, or solely, attracted to people of a different sex or gender, typically the “opposite” one.

However, a heterosexual person may also be biromantic.

Commonly known as straight.

Related: heteroromantic

a bisexual+ identity in which an individual is primarily/mostly attracted to people of the same gender, but rarely or occasionally experiences attraction to people of a different gender.

An individual who is exclusively, or predominantly, romantically attracted to people of the same sex or gender.

People who are homoromantic may not be homosexual; for example, a bisexual/homoromantic person may be sexually attracted to more than one gender, but only romantically attracted to members of the same gender.

The term is particularly useful to describe asexual people who may be asexual/homoromantic.

More commonly known as gay or lesbian, a homosexual is somebody who is attracted to exclusively, or predominantly, towards people of the same gender or sex.

Many people choose not to use the term homosexual, due to its negative connotations in the past (such as homosexuality being seen as a medical/psychological disorder), and its usage as a negative term.

Related: homophile

a gay woman; that is, a woman who solely and/or primarily attracted to people of the same gender – a homosexual female.

The term is derived from the island of Lesbos in Greece, where the poet Sappho – who wrote about same-sex female love – came from.

a woman is who is solely or primarily romantically attracted to other women; a woman who is homoromantic, but not necessarily a homosexual – a woman who is romantically attracted to other women without necessarily being sexually attracted to them, or exclusively sexually attracted to them.

For example, a woman who is asexual/lesbiromantic; or a woman who is bisexual/lesbiromantic.

a form of sexual attraction on the asexual spectrum in which individuals experience sexual attraction but do not want it to be reciprocated. Lithosexual individuals may feel uncomfortable at the thought of someone being attracted to them and/or feel a decrease in sexual attraction towards somebody when it is reciprocated.

Also known as akoisexual, although that term is nowhere near as prominent.

a form of romantic attraction on the aromantic spectrum in which individuals experience romantic attraction but do not want it to be reciprocated. Lithromantic individuals may feel uncomfortable at the thought of someone being attracted to them and/or feel a decrease in romantic attraction towards somebody when it is reciprocated.

Also known as akoiromantic, although that term is nowhere near as prominent.

an umbrella term for non-monosexual sexualities; an alternative to bisexual+.

a person who experiences romantic, but not necessarily sexual, attractions to all genders. An omniromantic person may not necessarily be omnisexual.

depending on definition, it is either synonymous with pansexual – that is, an attraction to all genders – or, alternatively, it is described as being different to pansexual in that pansexuality is gender-blind attraction to all genders, whereas omnisexuality is gender-conscious attraction to all genders.

Part of the bisexual+ umbrella.

a person who experiences romantic, but not necessarily sexual, attractions to all genders. A panromantic person may not necessarily by pansexual.

A sexual orientation where an individual is attracted to ‘all’ genders, or regardless of gender.

Sometimes synonymous with omnisexual, although a distinction is often drawn that pansexuality is a “gender-blind” attraction to all genders, whereas omnisexuality is a “gender conscious” attraction to all genders.

Some proponents of the term suggest that pansexual is more inclusive than bisexual, because it encompasses, by its definition of “all”, an attraction to transgender and nonbinary people – although this may wrongly suggest that bisexual people’s attractions are limited to cisgender men and women.

Such a distinction is fiercely disputed by many members of the bisexual community, who insist that bisexuality in itself has always been inclusive of nonbinary and transgender people; especially as that before the pansexual identity became prevalent in common parlance, gender non-conforming, nonbinary and transgender people have also identified as bisexual and have been in relationships with bisexual-identified people.

Essentially, it is a personal preference to identify as pansexual or bisexual, and many bisexuals and pansexuals will use the terms interchangeably. Pansexuality falls under the bisexual+ umbrella.

An individual who desires relationships with more than one more person; people who are in relationships that involve more than two people – a polyamorous relationship.

Polyamorous people identify as polyamorous, and typically seek out other polyamorous people, or people open to polyamorous relationships (even if they themselves are not polyamorous) to form relationships with.

This is not the same as cheating: polyamory is based on informed consent – that is, that everybody involved in the relationship is aware; this could be an open relationship (where individuals involved are free to explore sexual and/or romantic relationships elsewhere), committed relationships which involve more than two people (e.g. a relationship with and between three people), or relationships in which one or both members have other relationships outside of that relationship.

Polyamorous relationships may be between two (or more) committed people in which both/all/some members engage in recreational or social sexual activity with others (such as swinging).

As such, polyamorous relationships can be diverse.

Not to be confused with polysexual.

a person who experiences romantic, but not necessarily sexual, attractions to multiple, but not all genders. A panromantic person may not necessarily be polysexual.

A polysexual person is an individual who is attracted to multiple, but not all genders.

Polysexuality falls under the bisexual+ umbrella; and as a result, some bisexuals may further identify as polysexual. Such examples may be individuals who are attracted to nonbinary people and women/femininity, but not men/masculinity.

Within the bisexual+ umbrella, polysexual may describe the distinction between pansexual and non-pansexual bisexuals.

an identity on the aromantic spectrum, in which an individual does not experience a romantic attraction to someone else until they’re aware that someone is romantically attracted to them. Reciproromantic individuals may – or may not – be reciprosexual.

an identity under the asexual umbrella, in which an individual does not experience attraction until they’re aware somebody is attracted to them first. Reciprosexual individuals may, or may not, also be reciproromantic.

an individual who is primarily or exclusively attracted to nonbinary and/or transgender individuals – essentially, an attraction to individuals who are not cisgender, although not necessarily all gender identities.

However, the term may be considered problematic as the term comes from the Greek for “crooked” or “curved”, suggesting non-cisgender people are broken; whilst others too have pointed out it may ‘other’ Trans men and women as not being true men and women.

Further, some have argued that the label may suggest a fetish, rather than an attraction – although this has also been disputed by non-cisgender individuals too.

For example, a skoliosexual person may be solely or primarily attracted to genderqueer individuals in much the same way gay men are attracted to other gay men.