noun
1 male or female
ADJECTIVE
▪ female , male
▪ opposite
▪
At that age they can start becoming shy with the opposite ~.
▪ same
▪
people of the same ~
▪
same-sex couples/partners
▪
same-sex relationships/marriages/weddings
▪ fair , fairer , gentle , weaker (= women; some women may find these terms offensive) ( humorous )
▪
They tend to consider women as the weaker ~ in need of care and protection.
VERB + SEX
▪ determine
▪
ultrasound tests to determine the ~ of a baby
▪
Sex is determined by chromosomal content.
▪ change
▪
For a long time I wanted to change my ~.
▪ be attracted to
▪
to be attracted to the opposite ~
SEX + NOUN
▪ change
▪
to have a ~ change
▪
a sex-change operation
▪ equality
▪
issues of ~ equality in the office
▪ discrimination , inequality
▪ ratio
▪ difference
▪
The theory predicts ~ differences in the brain.
▪ chromosome
▪
the X and Y ~ chromosomes
▪ hormone
PREPOSITION
▪ between the ~es
▪
differences/inequalities/relations between the ~es
PHRASES
▪ the battle of the ~es
▪
The quiz is a battle of the ~es between teams of male and female students.
▪ equality between the ~es , equality of the ~es
▪ on (the) grounds of ~ ( BrE )
▪
discrimination on grounds of ~
▪ irrespective of ~ , regardless of ~
▪
The word ‘man’ can refer to all humans, irrespective of ~.
▪ a member of the opposite ~
▪
This will help us meet attractive members of the opposite ~.
2 sexual intercourse
ADJECTIVE
▪ anal , oral , penetrative ( esp. BrE ), vaginal ( esp. AmE )
▪ gay , homosexual , lesbian
▪ heterosexual , straight
▪ good , great , hot , passionate , wild
▪ rough
▪ kinky
▪ safe
▪
Always practise/practice safe ~!
▪ unprotected , unsafe
▪ consensual , non-consensual
▪ extramarital , illicit , premarital
▪ anonymous , casual , promiscuous
▪ group
▪ public (= sex in public places)
▪ explicit , graphic , gratuitous , hard-core , steamy
▪
Movies containing scenes of explicit ~ are banned.
▪ Internet , phone
▪ underage , unlawful ( BrE )
▪
He was convicted of having unlawful ~ with an underage girl.
▪ teen ( esp. AmE ), teenage
VERB + SEX
▪ engage in , have
▪
She had never had ~ before.
▪ consent to
▪ refuse
▪ get , obtain
SEX + NOUN
▪ life
▪
a healthy ~ life
▪ drive , urge
▪
a low ~ drive
▪ appeal
▪
Despite his age, he still has a lot of ~ appeal.
▪ act
▪
photos showing ~ acts
▪ therapist , therapy
▪ partner ( esp. AmE )
▪
I have had several ~ partners over the years.
▪ organ
▪ education
▪
She is an advocate of abstinence-only ~ education. ( AmE )
▪
comprehensive ~ education ( esp. AmE )
▪ scandal
▪ abuse , assault ( esp. BrE ), attack ( BrE ), crime , offence/offense
▪
He was arrested for ~ crimes.
▪ fiend ( informal ), offender , pest ( BrE , informal )
▪
convicted ~ offenders
▪
registered ~ offenders
▪ addict , maniac
▪
He had a reputation of being a ~ maniac.
▪ film , scene , show
▪ comedy
▪ kitten , symbol
▪
She wants to be known as a singer rather than as a ~ symbol.
▪ object
▪
Women are viewed as ~ objects and exploited to sell products.
▪ club , shop
▪ aid , toy
▪ industry
▪ worker
▪
In this zone, prostitution is legal, but ~ workers must be at least 18.
▪ tourism
▪ trafficking
▪
to crack down on international ~ trafficking
▪ slave
PREPOSITION
▪ ~ between
▪
~ between consenting adults
▪ ~ with
▪
~ with her husband
PHRASES
▪ ~, drugs and rock 'n' roll ( humorous )
▪ ~ and violence
▪
~ and violence in today's liberal media
▪ ~ outside of marriage
▪
They teach that ~ outside of marriage is wrong.
▪ ~ sells
▪
Sex sells, the advertisers believe.