transsexual
transsexual Lexical Profile
transsexual Game Scores & Validity
• adjective
Relating to a transgender person, particularly one whose gender identity is opposite to the sex assigned to them at birth and who seeks or has undergone medical or surgical transition.
"The clinic was founded in the 1970s to provide specialized healthcare and counseling for transsexual patients."
• noun
A transgender person, especially one who desires or has undergone medical treatment such as hormone therapy or surgery to align their physical characteristics with their gender identity.
"In her memoir, she wrote candidly about her experiences as a pioneering transsexual in the mid-twentieth century."
Word Nuance & Usage
In contemporary usage, the broader term 'transgender' is generally preferred over 'transsexual', which is now often considered dated or overly clinical, particularly when used as a noun. However, some individuals who have undergone medical or surgical gender transition continue to embrace 'transsexual' as a self-identifier.
• Rhymes for transsexual
• Nearby Words
Word Origin & Etymology
Coined in the mid-20th century from the prefix 'trans-' (meaning across or beyond) and 'sexual', modeled on German 'Transsexualismus', which was introduced by sexologist Magnus Hirschfeld in 1923 and popularized in English by endocrinologist Harry Benjamin in the 1950s.