Popular web dictionary, Dictionary.com, has updated its 2023 database of terms coined to represent the LGBTQ+ community. The update also added 130 new definitions to pre-existing words and 1,140 revised definitions.
One of the terms “Queerbaiting” received an updated definition which now classifies the term as a slang marketing technique “involving intentional homoeroticism or suggestions of LGBTQ+ themes intended to draw in an LGBTQ+ audience, without explicit inclusion of openly LGBTQ+ relationships, characters, or people.”
In addition to “Queerbaiting” the definition of “Sex” includes several revisions and multiple definitions to better describe the varying ways the word can be used.
The term pinkwashing was added, by definition it is “the practice of acknowledging and promoting the civil liberties of the LGBTQ+ community, but superficially, as a ploy to divert attention from allegiances and activities that are in fact hostile to such liberties.”
Other terms added include:
"Sexual Minority", a term for the LGBTQ+ community, used in the context of discrimination against or advocacy for a minority sexual orientation, gender identity, or gender expression.
Abrosexual is defined as noting or relating to a person whose sexual orientation is fluid or fluctuates over time.
"Multisexual", noting or relating to a person who is sexually or romantically attracted to people of more than one gender, used especially as an inclusive term to describe sexual orientations such as bisexual, pansexual, omnisexual, etc.
"Mixed-gender" is defined or relating to two or more people of different genders.
"Folx" used to describe people; a variant spelling of “folks” (spelled with x not only as shorthand for the /ks/ sound but also in parallel with other gender-inclusive spellings, like Latinx).
"Grundle" is the region between the anus and the genitalia; perineum.
In a statement, John Kelly, senior director of editorial at Dictionary.com said “Language is, as always, constantly changing, but the sheer range and volume of vocabulary captured in our latest update to Dictionary.com reflects a shared feeling that change today is happening faster and more than ever before.”
This isn't the first time the website added to its list of LGBTQ+ terms. In 2020, the website added LGBTQ+ terms like “ace,” “deadname,” and “ambisextrous.”