The Meaning of Sapiosexual: What It Is and How To Use It

If you’ve heard someone refer to themselves as sapiosexual and not understood what they meant, we’re here to help! This article will help you expand your knowledge and vocabulary by explaining the word sapiosexual — which might make you more attractive to sapiosexuals themselves!

What Does the Word Sapiosexual Mean?

According to Psychology Today, the word sapiosexual refers to a sexual orientation in which a person is attracted to intelligence. A true sapiosexual loves knowledge, from the basic knowledge of everyday facts to the ability to have a deep philosophical discussion for fun. 

A sapiosexual may have an intense attraction to the human mind and not take the dating process at face value. Often, a sapiosexual might experience less immediate sexual attraction to a person on Instagram or Twitter but cares about intelligence as a person’s most attractive feature. 

This sexual orientation does not necessarily play into gender identity or sexuality based on opposite or same-gender attraction. Someone who is sapiosexual might be LGBT, but they could also be straight. Someone who is sapiosexual might also identify with aspects of demisexuality, meaning might not be sexually attracted to a stranger but need to know someone for the long haul. Sapiosexual relationships often aim for more than a potentially sexual relationship, like knowledge of our deeper selves.

If you find people attractive when they are engaged in philosophical discussion rather than showing off their physical attributes, this could be a sign that you are on the sapiosexual spectrum. You can look to find people with similar interests.

What Is The Origin of the Word Sapiosexual?

According to Very Well Mind, the word sapiosexual comes from the Latin root word sapien, which means wise, and sexualis, which means sexual. 

This word has come under fire for potential classist controversy, as well as exclusivity toward people with disabilities or neurodiversity. Sapiosexuality can be based on a first intimate encounter or first love experience. 

Childhoods catalyze our views of love often. Do you think that your first relationship affected how you experience crushes or love today?

What Is Other Terminology Used in the LGBTQ Community?

Per LGBTQIA Health Education, there is specific terminology that one may hear within the LGBTQ community. Below is a list of these terms. 

While a sapiosexual person is not always LGBTQ, they can be. Some people might consider themselves pansexual and sapiosexual, which would mean that they do not take gender into account when feeling attraction but only a person’s mind. 

Someone can be gay and sapiosexual or straight and sapiosexual. While most of the terminology in the LGBT community defines who a person is attracted to based on their gender, sapiosexual refers to how a person experiences attraction. This is similar to demisexuality.

• Homosexuality
•  Gender fluid
•  Same-gender loving (SGL)
•  Intersectionality
•  Gender non-conforming
•  Transphobia
•  Bottom surgery
•  Genderqueer
•  Outing
•  Intersex
•  Polyamorous
•  Gender role
•  Tucking
•  Two-Spirit 
•  Assigned sex at birth
•  Gender affirming surgery (GAS)
•  Bisexual (Bi)
•  Same-sex attraction (SSA)
•  Cisgender
•  Lesbian
•  Drag
•  Bigender
•  Heterosexual
•  Queer
•  Heteronormativity
•  Cross-sex hormone therapy
•  Social stigma
•  Straight
•  Gender dysphoria
•  Minority stress
•  Ally
•  Homophobia
•  Biphobia
•  Transmasculine
•  Gender identity
•  Gay
•  Men who have sex with men/women who have sex with women (MSM/WSW)
•  Agender
•  Trans man/transgender man/female-to-male (FTM) 

How Can the Word Sapiosexual Be Used in a Sentence?

If you are discussing gender and sexuality, you might hear the word sapiosexual. Knowing how to use this word in a sentence is important, so we’ve created some examples to help you out:

The sapiosexual woman was looking for someone with an irreverent mind. The woman who filled her inbox with philosophic newsletters was the current object of her affection.

The man was told he needed to find humility and that identifying as a sapiosexual made him sound pretentious. 

The woman knew she was somewhere on the spectrum of demisexuality. She was not often sexually attracted to people off the bat but had to get to know them and their minds before her attraction began. She thought she might be sapiosexual.

What Are Synonyms of the Word Sapiosexual?

If you find intelligence attractive but you do not want to identify as sapiosexual, you might opt to use a synonym for this word instead. Synonyms are also a great way to vary your speech and writing patterns or learn new words to expand your current vocabulary. 

Take a peek at this list of synonyms for the word sapiosexual from Power Thesaurus, and try incorporating these into your vocabulary. 

•  finding intelligence sexually arousing
•  finding intelligence sexually attractive
•  one who finds intelligence arousing
•  one who finds intelligence attractive
•  sapiophile
•  sapiosexual person
•  sexually attracted to the human mind
•  sexually attracted to intelligence
•  sexually attracted to intelligent people

Conclusion

Overall, the word sapiosexual refers to a person who is attracted to intelligence rather than physical attraction. A person who is sapiosexual can either be straight or LGBT, and this simply refers to the qualities they are attracted to in another person.

Sources:

1. Sapiosexuality: What Attracts You to a Sexual Partner? | Psychology Today 
2. What Does It Mean to Be Sapiosexual? | Very Well Mind 
3. Glossary of LGBT Terms for Health Care Teams | LGBTQIA Health Education
4. 9 Words and Phrases for Sapiosexual | Power Thesaurus