promiscuous

Hello, you have come here looking for the meaning of the word promiscuous. In DICTIOUS you will not only get to know all the dictionary meanings for the word promiscuous, but we will also tell you about its etymology, its characteristics and you will know how to say promiscuous in singular and plural. Everything you need to know about the word promiscuous you have here. The definition of the word promiscuous will help you to be more precise and correct when speaking or writing your texts. Knowing the definition ofpromiscuous, as well as those of other words, enriches your vocabulary and provides you with more and better linguistic resources.

English

Etymology

From Latin prōmiscuus (mixed, not separated), from prō (forth) + misceō (mix).

Pronunciation

Adjective

promiscuous (comparative more promiscuous, superlative most promiscuous)

  1. Made up of various disparate elements mixed together; of disorderly composition.
    Synonym: motley
    • 1667, John Milton, “Book I”, in Paradise Lost. , London: [Samuel Simmons], and are to be sold by Peter Parker ; nd by Robert Boulter ; nd Matthias Walker, , →OCLC; republished as Paradise Lost in Ten Books: , London: Basil Montagu Pickering , 1873, →OCLC, lines 379-80:
      Came singly where he stood on the bare strand, / While the promiscuous croud stood yet aloof.
    • 1871, George Eliot [pseudonym; Mary Ann Evans], chapter I, in Middlemarch , volume I, Edinburgh, London: William Blackwood and Sons, →OCLC, book I, page 4:
      [T]hey had both been educated [...] on plans at once narrow and promiscuous, first in an English family and afterwards in a Swiss family at Lausanne, their bachelor uncle and guardian trying in this way to remedy the disadvantages of their orphaned condition.
  2. Made without careful choice; indiscriminate.
    A sail caught by a promiscuous wind.
  3. Having many sexual partners, especially if indiscriminate in choice of sexual partners.
    • 2023, Parliament of Singapore, “Women’s Charter (Family Violence and Other Matters) (Amendment) Bill”, in Republic of Singapore Government Gazette, page 5:
      X spreads false rumours to third parties about X’s spouse being promiscuous. X’s spouse finds out about the rumours and is distressed. X has committed emotional or psychological abuse against X’s spouse.
  4. (networking) The mode in which an NIC gathers all network traffic instead of getting only the traffic intended for it.

Derived terms

Descendants

  • German: promiskuos

Translations

See also

Further reading