SEXUAL CHARACTERISTIC

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does sexual characteristic mean? 

• SEXUAL CHARACTERISTIC (noun)
  The noun SEXUAL CHARACTERISTIC has 1 sense:

1. those characteristics (both anatomical and psychological) that are strongly associated with one sex relative to the other

  Familiarity information: SEXUAL CHARACTERISTIC used as a noun is very rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• SEXUAL CHARACTERISTIC (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

Those characteristics (both anatomical and psychological) that are strongly associated with one sex relative to the other

Classified under:

Nouns denoting attributes of people and objects

Synonyms:

sex character; sex characteristic; sexual characteristic

Hypernyms ("sexual characteristic" is a kind of...):

characteristic; feature (a prominent attribute or aspect of something)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "sexual characteristic"):

primary sex character; primary sex characteristic; primary sexual characteristic (the genetically determined sex characteristics bound up with reproduction (genitals and organs of reproduction))

secondary sex character; secondary sex characteristic; secondary sexual characteristic (the genetically determined sex characteristics that are not functionally necessary for reproduction (pitch of the voice and body hair and musculature))

virilism (the development of male secondary sexual characteristics in a female (or prematurely in a young boy))