Spanish word

libido

Pronunciation

IPA/liˈβiðo/

Meaning

  • feminine nounsexual desire

Example

Siento que mi libido ha bajado.

I feel that my sexual desire has decreased.

Illustration for libido (sexual desire)

More examples

Algunos medicamentos pueden afectar la libido.

Some medications can affect sexual desire.

Core concept

Inner drive for sexual contact.

Common phrases

  • disminución de libido

    decrease in sexual desire

  • niveles de libido

    levels of sexual desire

Similar words

deseo: General mental wanting or longing for a person, object, or outcome.
apetito: Bodily sexual urge experienced as a physical appetite for sex.
pasión: Intense surge of feeling or powerful emotional passion.
atracción: Sensation of being mentally or physically drawn to someone.

Definition in Spanish

Impulso o deseo sexual que lleva a una persona a buscar gratificación erótica o contacto íntimo.

Word origin

Borrowed from Latin libīdō through scholarly and medical usage, the word narrows from a general sense of desire to a specifically sexual impulse in modern Spanish.

Usage tips

  • The noun is feminine (la libido) and behaves like an uncountable quality, so speakers say la libido baja rather than pluralizing it.

Other meanings

  • sexual impulsenoun

Opposites

  • asexualidadasexualitynoun
  • frigidezfrigiditynoun

Word lists with this word