heteronormative

American

[het-er-uh-nawr-muh-tiv] / ˌhɛt ər əˈnɔr mə tɪv /

adjective

noting or relating to behavior or attitudes consistent with traditional male or female gender roles and the assumption of heterosexuality as the norm.

our heteronormative culture.

Other Word Forms

heteronormativity noun

Etymology

Origin of heteronormative

First recorded in 1990–95; hetero(sexual) ( def. ) + normative ( def. )

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

In a converse way, Kay and Down’s reluctance to be so clean, so shiny and so heteronormative with their characters is just as forward-thinking as any media that conjures a conventional picture of equality.

From Salon

Roan’s lipstick gone “awry” on her teeth brings a camp sensibility to both mock and celebrate feminine performance that resists traditional heteronormative constructs.

From Salon

Interestingly, the girls that I overhear speaking about romantic relationships, many of them are not in heteronormative relationships.

From Los Angeles Times

Many of them are quite gender fluid, and that’s great, but the heteronormative girls are interesting because they want to be financially solvent.

From Los Angeles Times

As a gay man — notably, like Rauschenberg — he was socially invisible in a heteronormative society.

From Los Angeles Times

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023