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Meaning & use

gender neutral

adjective·Academic

Last updated

UK/ˌdʒendə ˈnjuːtrəl/
US/ˌdʒendɚ ˈnuːtrəl/

Meanings

  1. adjectivecomparable

    Not specific to men or women, so that it suits or includes people of any gender.

    Grammar: Used before a noun or after be: gender-neutral language, the policy is gender neutral.

    Patterns

    • gender-neutral language
    • gender neutral for someone

    The school introduced a gender-neutral uniform policy.

    Many companies now use gender-neutral job titles such as firefighter.

    The toys in this shop are gender neutral, so any child can enjoy them.

  2. adjectivebefore a noun

    Describing a person who does not identify as male or female, or a name or pronoun that suits such a person.

    Grammar: Used before a noun: a gender-neutral name or pronoun.

    Patterns

    • a gender-neutral name
    • gender-neutral pronouns

    Alex is a popular gender-neutral name.

    She prefers gender-neutral pronouns such as they.

    The form includes a gender-neutral option.

Common combinations

gender-neutral language
The report uses gender-neutral language throughout.
gender-neutral bathroom
The cinema has a gender-neutral bathroom.
gender-neutral name
Taylor is a gender-neutral name.
gender-neutral clothing
The brand sells gender-neutral clothing.
gender-neutral policy
The club adopted a gender-neutral policy.

Synonyms and how they differ

unisex
Unisex describes things made for both men and women, such as clothes or hair salons, and is less used for language or identity.
inclusive
Inclusive is broader and means welcoming all kinds of people, not only about gender.
non-gendered
Non-gendered is more technical and often used in linguistics to mean having no grammatical gender.
neutral
Neutral alone is much wider and does not say that the topic is gender.

Opposites

gendered

Word family

gender noun
the social or cultural identity of being a man, woman or other
neutral adjective
not taking a side or showing a feature
genderless adjective
without gender
neutrality noun
the state of being neutral

Commonly confused: gender neutral or gender-neutral?

gender neutral vs gender-neutral

Gender-neutral is about gender, while sex-neutral is a very rare term and is not usually used.

Practice

The company replaced words such as chairman with ____ words such as chair.

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