libido

Meanings

1. 1noununcountablemedical

   A person's sexual drive or desire for sexual activity.

   Grammar: Usually no plural in everyday use; talk about high, low, or loss of libido.

   Patterns

   • high libido
   • low libido
   • loss of libido
   • boost libido

   Stress can lower libido for a time.

   The doctor asked whether the medicine had affected his libido.

2. 2noununcountablespecialist

   In psychoanalysis, instinctual psychic energy associated with desires, especially sexual ones.

   Grammar: A specialist abstract noun; rarely plural outside technical discussion.

   Patterns

   • Freudian libido
   • theory of libido

   In Freud's model, libido moves through early stages of development.

   The lecture explained how libido was used differently by later analysts.

Common combinations

high libido

Some medicines change high libido into a frustrating problem.

low libido

She asked her doctor about low libido during treatment.

loss of libido

Fatigue and anxiety can cause loss of libido.

boost your libido

Sleep, exercise, and honest conversation may boost your libido.

Synonyms and how they differ

sex drive

Sex drive is the plain everyday phrase; libido sounds clinical or psychological.

desire

Desire is broader and can refer to wanting anything; libido specifically concerns sexual energy.

passion

Passion is strong feeling or enthusiasm, not a neutral medical measure of sex drive.

Word family

libidinous adjective

full of sexual desire; literary or formal.

libidinal adjective

relating to libido in psychoanalytic theory; technical.

Commonly confused: libido or libel?

Practice

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