desex

[ dee-seks ]

verb (used with object)

1. Veterinary Surgery. to castrate or spay.
2. to deprive of sex, sex appeal, or sexual interest.
3. to remove elements of sexism from; degenderize:

   a campaign to desex business writing.

Word History and Origins

Origin of desex¹

First recorded in 1910–15; de- + sex

Example Sentences

It called for desexing the English language, replacing “policeman” with “police officer” and “stewardess” with “flight attendant.”

From Washington Post

Moreover, large numbers of individual dogs will be unable to reproduce because they have been desexed, and so even if individuals manage to survive, they will be at a genetic dead end.

From Salon

Their latest study, which is not yet published, examined 35 breeds and mutts and detected no associations between desexing and cancers or joint disorders in small dogs.

From Washington Post

In the novel, Ruth desexes herself, as surely as Lady Macbeth, going from woman to self-described she-devil.

From New York Times

Are parents just tame animals, housebroken and desexed?

From New York Times