promiscuous

adjective

pro·​mis·​cu·​ous prə-ˈmi-skyə-wəs 

1

: having or involving many sexual partners : not restricted to one sexual partner or few sexual partners

2

: not restricted to one class, sort, or person : indiscriminate

education … cheapened through the promiscuous distribution of diplomas

—Norman Cousins

3

: casual, irregular

promiscuous eating habits

4

: composed of all sorts of persons or things

promiscuously adverb

promiscuousness noun

Did you know?

The Multiple Meanings of Promiscuous

Promiscuous (from Latin promiscuus “without distinction, taken from every different type”) has a range of meanings in English. The oldest of these is “composed of all sorts of persons and things” (as in “a promiscuous array of books” or “the promiscuous company at the tavern”). This meaning suggests a random assortment, not necessarily with negative implications.

Within the last few hundred years, promiscuous has added the usually negatively-tinged meanings “indiscriminate” (“promiscuous destruction by bombing”), “casual or careless” (“the president’s promiscuous dishonesty”), and of course, “not restricted to one sexual partner.”

Does this mean that the word itself is promiscuous? Not at all. It is not uncommon for English words to display this polysemous (“having multiple meanings”) character, and promiscuous is actually on the tidy end of the spectrum, as far as these things go. Some English words have dozens of meanings.

Synonyms

• assorted
• eclectic
• heterogeneous
• indiscriminate
• kitchen-sink
• magpie
• miscellaneous
• mixed
• motley
• patchwork
• piebald
• raggle-taggle
• ragtag
• varied

Examples of promiscuous in a Sentence

a promiscuous selection of poems

since I just collect stamps that I happen to like, my collection is pretty promiscuous

Recent Examples on the Web

Neil, played by Joseph Gordon-Levitt, responds to the abuse by becoming a promiscuous hustler. —Alexandra Schwartz, The New Yorker, 13 Dec. 2024

Norris' very difficult day-to-day is complicated by the antics of his son Cooper (Jacob Lofland), who dropped out of college to work on an oil crew, his promiscuous daughter Ainsley (Michelle Randolph) and his walking cliché of an ex-wife, Angela (Ali Larter). —Kelly Lawler, USA TODAY, 19 Nov. 2024

Walking in the forest, Doyle and Severson called Missy promiscuous, per the filing, and Doyle grabbed her by the hair and chopped off part of it. —Emily Palmer, People.com, 3 Nov. 2024

But their whirlwind romance can’t overcome his insecurities over her promiscuous past and the blatant homophobia of his writing partner Banky (Jason Lee), who lashes out at the relationship as a means of dealing with his own repressed homosexuality. —Christian Zilko, IndieWire, 31 Oct. 2024

Word History

Etymology

Latin promiscuus, from pro- forth + miscēre to mix — more at pro-, mix

First Known Use

1570, in the meaning defined at sense 4

Kids Definition

promiscuous

adjective

pro·​mis·​cu·​ous prə-ˈmis-kyə-wəs 

1

: composed of all sorts of persons and things : miscellaneous

2

: not restricted to one person or class

especially : not restricted to one sexual partner

promiscuously adverb

Medical Definition

promiscuous

adjective

pro·​mis·​cu·​ous prə-ˈmis-kyə-wəs 

: not restricted to one sexual partner