metrosexual

See also: metrosexuál

English

Etymology

Blend of metropolitan +‎ heterosexual, equivalent to metro- +‎ -sexual. Coined by British writer Mark Simpson in 1994, it enjoyed a brief popularity in the early 2000s.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˌmɛtɹəˈsɛkʃuəl/

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

• Hyphenation: met‧ro‧sex‧u‧al

Noun

metrosexual (plural metrosexuals)

1. (dated) A man — typically urban, heterosexual, and affluent — who is concerned with personal appearance, such as personal grooming, fashion, and aesthetics in general.
   • 2006 September 18, Mark Simpson, “Long live the metrosexual”, in The Guardian‎^[2], →ISSN:

     Reports of the "death" of my Frankenstein's monster with perfect skin, the metrosexual, have been greatly exaggerated. In Europe and the UK at least, it seems he's alive and looking very well in his lovely new eyeliner.

2. (dated) A heterosexual man who is seen, sociologically, as having attributes common to homosexuals.

Synonyms

• boulevardier
• dandy (19th Century)
• fop (19th Century)
• dude, dood (archaic)
• man about town
• masher (archaic)
• Thesaurus:dandy
• Thesaurus:sensualist

Translations

man concerned with personal appearance

• Bulgarian: метросексуален (metroseksualen)
• Catalan: metrosexual
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 都市美男 (dūshì měinán), 型男 (zh) (xíngnán)

• Czech: metrosexuál (cs)
• Danish: metrosexuel
• Dutch: metroseksueel (nl) m, metroman (nl) m
• Esperanto: metroseksulo
• Estonian: metroseksuaal
• Finnish: metroseksuaali (fi), hienostelija (fi), keikari (fi)
• French: métrosexuel (fr) m
• German: Metrosexueller m
• Greek: μετροσέξουαλ (el) m (metroséxoual), κλαρινογαμπρός (el) m (klarinogamprós)
• Hebrew: מטרוסקסואל (metroseksual)
• Hungarian: metroszexuális
• Italian: metrosessuale (it)
• Japanese: メトロセクシャル (metorosekusharu)
• Lithuanian: metroseksualas
• Piedmontese: gadan
• Polish: metroseksualny (pl)
• Portuguese: metrossexual (pt) m
• Romanian: metrosexual
• Russian: метросексуа́л (ru) m (metrosɛksuál)
• Serbo-Croatian: метросексуалан
• Spanish: metrosexual (es)
• Swedish: metrosexuell (sv)
• Turkish: metroseksüel (tr)

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

Translations to be checked

• Italian: ^{(please verify)} vitellone (it) m

Adjective

metrosexual (comparative more metrosexual, superlative most metrosexual)

1. (dated) Of or relating to a metrosexual or the metrosexual lifestyle.
   • 2012 May 17, David A. Graham, “Picture of the Day: The Metrosexual, Black Abe Lincoln”, in The Atlantic‎^[3]:

     But one question stuck out beyond all the others. What on earth would a metrosexual, black Abe Lincoln look like?

   • 2023 October 29, Zoe Williams, “‘An ironic, self-deprecating metrosexual’: how Matthew Perry captured the spirit of the age”, in The Guardian‎^[4], →ISSN:

     Of course Chandler was the romantic lead. His was the spirit of the age: self-deprecating, metrosexual, all ironic distance, no ambition.

Derived terms

• metrosexualism
• metrosexuality
• metrosexualization
• metrosexualize
• metrosexually
• retrosexual
• spornosexual

See also

• ambisexual
• gender-bender
• unisex
• machosexual
• Appendix:American Dialect Society words of the year

Catalan

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): (Northern, Central) [mə.tɾu.sək.suˈal]
• IPA^(key): (Balearic) [mə.tɾo.sək.suˈal]
• IPA^(key): (Valencia, Northwestern) [me.tɾo.sek.suˈal]

Noun

metrosexual m (plural metrosexuals)

1. metrosexual

Spanish

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /metɾoseɡˈswal/ [me.t̪ɾo.seɣ̞ˈswal]
• Rhymes: -al
• Syllabification: me‧tro‧se‧xual

Noun

metrosexual m (plural metrosexuales)

1. metrosexual

Adjective

metrosexual m or f (masculine and feminine plural metrosexuales)

1. metrosexual

Further reading

• “metrosexual”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.8.1, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 15 December 2025