unsex

Strip of sex

Unsex means to remove or neutralize the sexual characteristics or identity of someone or something.

The word appears most famously in Shakespeare's *Macbeth*, where Lady Macbeth implores spirits to unsex me here—to strip away feminine qualities she considers weaknesses.

More broadly, unsex can mean to deprive of sexual power or to make something gender-neutral: The uniform seemed designed to unsex its wearers.

emasculate

castrate

Remove male gonads surgically

unmanDeprive of courage
disempowerRemove capacity to act
weakenReduce in strength

enfeeble · debilitate · impotent · emasculated · neuter · geld · demasculinize · soften · devitalize · undermine

degender

androgynous

Neither distinctly male nor female

genderlessHaving no sex distinction
nonbinaryOutside male-female categories
neuterRemove fertility surgically

undifferentiated · neutral · unmarked · agender · genderqueer · ungendered · desexualize · neutralize · efface · erase

defeminize

masculinize

Make more male-typical

hardenMake or become firm
toughenMake harder to damage
desexualizeRemove erotic charge from

unfeminine · dehumanize · detach · suppress · repress · dissociate · disconnect · divest · strip · denature

Opposites

gender/sex attribution

unsexsex

Reproductive category or act

gender · engender · feminize · masculinize · sexualize

sexual capacity/function

unsexsex

Reproductive category or act

virilize · potentiate · fertilize · masculinize · feminize

gendered power/nature (literary)

unsexhumanize

Make more relatable

soften · civilize

Phrases

unsafe sexIntercourse without contraception

Family

unsexed

Familiarity: Top 1,000,000
Profile: Used worldwide · Timeless · Abstract · Everyday, not technical · Rated PG