The Meaning of Ace Sexuality: What It Is and How To Use It

What is ace short for? What does it mean if someone identifies as ace? This article will explain the meaning of ace sexuality.

Your writing, at its best

Compose bold, clear, mistake-free, writing with Grammarly's AI-powered writing assistant

Do you know anyone who identifies as ace? Perhaps someone told you that they are ace, and you didn’t know what they meant. This article will define the term ace concerning sexuality and provide information on the asexual spectrum and other forms of attraction.

What Does the Term Asexuality Mean?

Ace is short for asexual, a sexual orientation in which a person does not experience sexual attraction or sexual desire. Asexual people can experience romantic attraction and form an emotional connection or bond with people and may choose to enter into romantic relationships. Asexual people often identify as a part of the LGBTQIA community.

One common misconception about asexual people is that they do not enter into sexual relationships or participate in sexual contact or sexual activities. However, many asexual people are very sex-positive in their partnerships and on their own. 

Asexual people can have a sex drive or a low libido, just like those who are not asexual. Many asexual people participate in sexual activities like masturbation or sex with another person, while others choose celibacy.

Related Terms in the LGBTQ Community

Asexuality is an umbrella term, and people can fall in different places on the ace spectrum. People on the asexual spectrum may still consider themselves part of the ace community.

Aromantic is the equivalent of asexual but about romantic orientation. Aromantic people or “aro” people do not experience romantic attraction. They may still experience sexual attraction. However, many people identify as “aro-ace,” which means they are both asexual and aromantic.

Some people identify as asexual but may identify as heteroromantic, homoromantic, biromantic, or panromantic. In these cases, people still experience romantic attraction, but not sexual attraction. 

For example, a heteroromantic person experiences romantic attraction to the opposite sex. Someone who is homoromantic experiences romantic attraction to the same sex, and biromantic and panromantic people experience romantic attraction to people of multiple genders.

One type of sexuality on the asexual spectrum is demisexual and its romantic equivalent, demiromantic. Demisexual and demiromantic people need specific circumstances to be in place to experience sexual or romantic attraction. Often, they do not feel sexual or romantic attraction at first sight but need to know a person very well before experiencing romantic and sexual attraction. 

Gray-asexual or graysexual is similar to demisexual in that this person may experience less or a different sexual attraction than the typical human being. 

The Opposite of Asexual

The opposite of someone who is asexual is someone who experiences sexual attraction to many types of people. The umbrella term for someone who experiences sexual attraction to many different genders is allosexual.

There are a few different forms of allosexuality, but the most common forms are pansexual and bisexual. Bisexual people experience sexual attraction to two or more genders, and pansexual people can experience sexual attraction to anyone regardless of gender. Therefore, some people use these two terms interchangeably. 

How Can Asexual Be Used in a Sentence?

Asexual is an adjective. Before you describe someone as asexual, make sure that they have told you that is how they identify. Then, reference the below example sentences containing the word asexual to learn how to incorporate this word into your vocabulary.

I am asexual, but I still experience romantic attraction. However, my friend is aro ace, which means that they do not experience romantic or sexual attraction.

I was happy that there was someone else who identified as asexual at the LGBT Center meeting on campus. I was worried I would be the only one.

We are both asexual but are happily in a committed relationship. We feel fulfilled through our romantic endeavors but are celibate.

What Are Translations of Asexual?

Not everyone who identifies as asexual speaks English! Many people in non-English speaking countries also identify as asexual. 

To communicate about the concept of asexuality in other languages, you can use this list of translations of asexual from Nice Translator:

  • Italian: asessuale
  • Hindi: असेक्सुअल
  • Kannada: ಅಲೈಂಗಿಕವಾಗಿ
  • Dutch: aseksueel
  • Marathi: असभ्यता
  • Greek: άφυλος
  • Norwegian: aseksuell
  • Basque: asexual
  • Thai: กะเทย
  • Chinese (Taiwan): 無性
  • Czech: nepohlavní
  • Urdu: غیر معمولی
  • Korean: 성기이 없는
  • Welsh: anrhywiol
  • German: asexuell
  • Estonian: aseksuaalne
  • Icelandic: eikynhneigð
  • Finnish: suvuton
  • Serbian: асексуалан
  • Ukrainian: безстатевий
  • Chinese (PRC): 无性
  • Japanese: a a
  • Slovenian: aseksualna
  • French: asexué
  • Catalan: asexual
  • Latvian: asexual
  • Portuguese (Brazil): assexual
  • Vietnamese: vô tính.
  • Portuguese (Portugal): assexual
  • Croatian: aseksualan
  • Turkish: aseksüel
  • Bulgarian: асексуален
  • Swedish: könlös
  • Polish: bezpłciowy
  • Hebrew: לֹא מִינִי
  • Hungarian: asszexuális
  • Spanish: asexual
  • Malayalam: അസുഖകരമായ
  • Gujarati: અવિચારી
  • Russian: асексуал
  • Slovak: asexuál
  • Arabic: عديم الجنس
  • Tamil: asexcual

What Are the Types of Attraction?

There are many different types of attraction that a person might experience, and Healthline covers them all. Not all attraction is sexual, and this list can help provide a deeper understanding of the types of attraction that an asexual person might experience. 

  • Homoromantic Attraction
  •  Autoromantic Attraction
  •  Panromantic Attraction
  •  Polyromantic Attraction
  •  Intimacy
  •  Social Attraction
  •  Sexual attraction
  •  Romantic Attraction
  •  Crush
  •  Passion
  •  Lust
  •  Objective Physical Attraction
  •  Intellectual Attraction
  •  Allosexual Attraction
  •  Biromantic Attraction
  •  Bisexual Attraction
  •  Heteroromantic Attraction
  •  Objective Sexual Attraction
  •  Physical Attraction
  •  Squish
  •  Subjective sexual attraction
  •  Subjective Physical Attraction
  •  Alterous Attraction
  •  Sensual Attraction
  •  Aesthetic Attraction
  •  Alloromantic (Allo) Attraction
  •  Platonic Attraction
  •  Demiromantic Attraction
  •  Protective Attraction
  •  Attachment
  •  Emotional Attraction

Conclusion

Asexuality, often abbreviated as ace, is a sexuality where people have a lack of sexual attraction to others. However, asexual people may still experience romantic attraction and participate in sexual activity. 

Other asexual people choose to remain celibate. People with an asexual identity or those who fall on the asexual spectrum not only identify as a part of the asexual community but as a part of the LGBT community.

Sources:

  1. What Are the Different Types of Attraction? 37 Terms to Know | Healthline 
  2. Asexual | Nice Translator 
  3. Asexual Definition & Meaning | Dictionary.com