Abrosexuality Refers to the Way a Person's Sexuality Can Change Over Time

The Gist:

• Abrosexuality refers to a person whose sexual orientation changes over time.
• An abrosexual person could be heterosexual, and then later asexual, and then later pansexual.
• Abrosexual can also be described as sexual fluidity.
• Abrosexuals can keep their orientation private, but may want to share that information with anyone who might be a serious partner.

As we continue to understand more about the nature of gender and sexuality, there has been an explosion in the number of different ways a person can describe their orientation. These terms allow for far more precision than used to be available for people, but they have also led to some confusion for people who sometimes see these terms for the first time.

One term that has confused some users is "abrosexual," which is a necessary description, but one that has an unclear definition for many. Here's what the term means and who uses it.

Abrosexual is, at its simplest, another term to describe sexual fluidity. The term means that people have different levels and kinds of sexual attraction over the course of their lives. A person who is abrosexual may have changes in their sexual orientation over time, and may, for example, be attracted to men for a period, and then find that they are attracted to no one at all.

"Abro" comes from a Greek word that means "delicate" or "graceful," and it's used her to describe the way a person can seamlessly move between different levels of attraction and orientation. Abrosexual is one of many terms that can be used to describe multisexuality, which is a slate of terms that can describe people who are attracted to more than one gender.

Abrosexual people can choose partners of different genders throughout their lives or no partner at all.

Abroromantic, a related term, refers to someone similar, but may be interested in a romantic relationship that doesn't have an explicitly sexual component. Sometimes, though, the two terms can be used interchangeably.

Abrosexuality is distinct from both pansexuality and asexuality. Pansexuality means that a person is attracted to people of all genders, but it doesn't have the same changing nature as abrosexuality. An abrosexual person may be pansexual at some point, but could also be asexual or heterosexual at other times. Asexuality, by contrast, describes a person who isn't interested in sex at all. Again, an abrosexual may be asexual at times, but not always.

Although you aren't obligated to share your orientation with partners, it may be important for abrosexuals to explain their boundaries when they enter into a new relationship. Of course, the nature of abrosexuality means that a person's orientation can change over time. If you're in a serious relationship with someone, you may want to explain that this is the case and that it may change how you relate to one another over time.