The meaning of ANDROGYNOUS is having the characteristics or nature of both male and female. How to use androgynous in a sentence. The term androgynous is an adjective and is used to describe someone who is "neither specifically feminine nor masculine" and has "characteristics or nature of both male and female." In some cultures, androgynous gender expression has been celebrated, while in others, androgynous expression has been limited or suppressed.

Understanding the Context

To say that a culture or relationship is androgynous is to say that it lacks rigid gender roles, or has blurred lines between gender roles. Androgynous is a term used to describe an identity that is neither exclusively masculine nor feminine. A person with an androgynous aesthetic may wear “non-gendered” attire or present as masculine, feminine, both, or outside that binary description. biology specialized having both male and female features (Definition of androgynous from the Cambridge Advanced Learner's Dictionary & Thesaurus © Cambridge University Press) Androgynous is different, but often confused for, non-binary.

Key Insights

Non-binary describes someone's gender identity, while androgynous only refers to an outward appearance of not being specifically masculine or feminine. A person who practices androgyny is an androgyne. Synonyms for androgynous include genderless, unisex, and epicene. While it is often used to describe people, the word "androgynous" is also sometimes used to describe plants, fashion, careers, personality traits, and relationship styles. In biology, an androgynous person, animal, or plant has both male and female sexual characteristics.

Final Thoughts