sexual preference

/sɛkʃuəl pɹɛf(ə)ɹ(ə)ns/

//sɛkʃuəl pɹɛf(ə)ɹ(ə)ns// noun

"sexual-preference" is a 16-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“sexual preference” is uncommon English (outside the top frequency list), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

Unranked
below top-frequency English
17
letters

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Sexual orientation.

Corpus desk

Index EN-sexual-preference · sexual preference · English

sexual preference · unranked · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-UNRANKED Unranked
  • LEN-MEGA 17 letters
  • VOW-7 7 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-THIN "S" thin
  • PHOTO-UNK Peer pending

Read with this headword: Spelling guide for this pattern

Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.

Key facts for sexual preference
PropertyValue
Headwordsexual preference
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/sɛkʃuəl pɹɛf(ə)ɹ(ə)ns/
Letters17
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Long-tail rank of “sexual preference” in English

sexual preferenceranks outside the top 100,000 English headwords, in the long tail of specialist, archaic, or seldom-used vocabulary, exactly the territory where a reader stops mid-sentence to double-check spelling.

Beyond rank #100,000. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

sexual preference is uncommon English outside the top frequency list, classed as anoun, transcribed /sɛkʃuəl pɹɛf(ə)ɹ(ə)ns/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "Sexual orientation.".

The misspelling generator found no plausible variants for sexual preference, since its letter sequence doesn't invite the usual edit-distance slips. It is not paired with a close-neighbour confusable in our dataset, which tends to mean the word is visually distinctive enough to stand on its own.

No documented word history exists for this headword, so its spelling is best explained by sound-to-letter mapping rather than etymology. The correct English form is sexual preference, spelled S-E-X-U-A-L- -P-R-E-F-E-R-E-N-C-E.

Definition

  1. 1
    Sexual orientation.

Recorded use

Wiktionary example

These source excerpts show how sexual preference appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.

  1. My family has shut me out from their lives because of my sexual preference.

Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "sexual preference"?
"sexual preference" is spelled S-E-X-U-A-L- -P-R-E-F-E-R-E-N-C-E. The IPA pronunciation is /sɛkʃuəl pɹɛf(ə)ɹ(ə)ns/.
What does "sexual preference" mean?
As a noun, "sexual preference" means: Sexual orientation.
How do you pronounce "sexual preference"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "sexual preference" is /sɛkʃuəl pɹɛf(ə)ɹ(ə)ns/. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "sexual preference" come from?
"sexual preference" is a English word. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, and spelling data for this and other words across English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German on PlainSpell.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list