technosexual

English

Etymology

From techno- +‎ -sexual. First attested (as techno-sexual) in the 18 May 1970 edition of New York Magazine. Not attested again until the late 1990s, as technosexual.

Pronunciation

• enPR: tĕk′nō-sĕk′sho͞o-əl
  • (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˌtɛk.nəʊˈsɛk.ʃuː.əl/
  • (General American) IPA^(key): /ˌtɛk.noʊˈsɛk.ʃu.əl/
• Rhymes: -ɛkʃuəl, -ɛkʃuːəl
• Hyphenation: tech‧no‧sex‧ual

Adjective

technosexual (not comparable)

1. Technologically sexual: sexual in a robot-like (for example, programmable) way.
   • 1997, Janet Lungstrum, Metropolis and the Technosexual Woman of German Modernity, in Women in the Metropolis: Gender and Modernity in Weimar Culture (Katharina von Ankum, editor; Berkley: UC Press), pages 128-144; abstract:

     […] Women of the time were constructed to be the technosexual Other, robot-like & programmable, as in Fritz Lang's film Metropolis (1927). Other images of women as sex machine in film & literature of the time are described. […]

   • 1999, Marsha Meskimmon, We Weren't Modern Enough: Women Artists and the Limits of German Modernism, page 61:

     By contrast, women artists who considered the theme of the mannequin-woman precisely undermined this form of elision between women on the street and the idealised technosexual forms of woman displayed in magazines, shop windows and on advertising poles.

   • 2007, Ashley Dawson, Malini Johar Schueller, Exceptional State: Contemporary U.S. Culture and the New Imperialism, page 167:

     It is a technosexual dominance marked by order, control, and precision, one which seeks to reduce the Other to disorder, chaos, and destruction through discourses of homophobia and masculinity.

2. Expressing, or pertaining to the expression of, sexuality through technology or technological media.
   • 2009, Nancy Flynn, The E-Policy Handbook: Rules and Best Practices to Safely Manage Your Company's E-Mail, Blogs, Social Networking, and Other Electronic Communication Tools, page 161:

     Immediate fallout from the scandal included a call for the mayor's resignation from the city's 900-member municipal union and public embarrassment for Kilpatrick's wife and family as the tragic technosexual tale spread nationwide thanks to coverage in […] prominent media outlets.

   • 2010, Daniel Reimold, Sex and the University: Celebrity, Controversy, and a Student Journalism Revolution, page 87:

     They discuss the implications of online dating; online pornography; virtual sex in the fantasy worlds of Second Life and The Sims; and technosexual intercourse, an activity traditionally associated with phone sex but now embracing all manner of cyber-based connections such as "sexting" (sexually explicit text messaging) and erotic instant messaging.

   • 2011, Mark Abley, The Prodigal Tongue: Dispatches from the Future of English, page 227:

     Aiming at a slightly older crowd, Calvin Klein introduced a pair of perfumes for the "technosexual generation" — the company's phrase, not mine — named CK in2U. The ad campaign featured the lines "She likes how he blogs, her texts turn him on. It's intense. For right now."

Related terms

• technosex
• technosexuality

Noun

technosexual (plural technosexuals)

1. Someone with a sexual fetish for or sexual attraction to machines, robots, computers or androids. [since 2004]
   • 2004 March 22, Robert X. Cringeley, “Always the Last to Know”, in InfoWorld, number 12, page 14:

     At this rate, I may give up on women entirely and become a technosexual.

   • 2005, Johnny Blue, The Blue Riders' Club, Trafford, page 59:

     LESLIE: Don't forget, I was fucking a machine, not a man.
     GARY: What does that make you then, technosexual?

   • 2005, Dennis Hans, “Plankton's insidious technosexual agenda”, in National Catholic Reporter:

     Plankton isn’t gay; he’s technosexual. His wife, Karen -- the apple of his one and only eye -- is a computer.

   • 2010, Anthony Ferguson, The Sex Doll: A History, page 204:

     There is no single, stereotypical sex doll user. These curious, ever-evolving objects are desired by some for their artistic quality, by others for their complicit silence. The technosexual admires their cold, emotionless, robotic texture, […]

2. (neologism) A person, especially a male metrosexual, who expresses himself or herself (including in terms of sexuality) through technological devices. [since 2006]
   • 2006, Business Venezuela, issues 275-279 (Venezuelan-American Chamber of Commerce):

     Metrosexuals have opened the door to close kin such as technosexuals (basically, metrosexuals who like gadgets).

   • 2007 May 9, Samantha Brett, Sydney Morning Herald, "Ask Sam TV Ep 10 - What women want next: the technosexual?" [1]:

     But fast forward to today and it seems Mr. Joe has become a full-blown technosexual icon […]

   • 2010, Eric Freedman, Transient Images: Personal Media in Public Frameworks, page 166:

     The technosexual fucks the network (this is not rape, for the network is receptive by design), ejaculating signs, creating a form of pornography aligned with his or her desire (this is not always an act of conscious exhibitionism); […]

Translations

person sexually attracted to machines

metrosexual who likes technology

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

• Spanish: tecnosexual (es)