How to Use intersex in a Sentence

intersex

1 of 2 noun
  • The blue-eyed baby was intersex, with both male and female traits.
    — Washington Post, 10 June 2019
  • But an intersex person is born in full health and can live happily!
    — Trinidad Barleycorn, Variety, 9 Sep. 2022
  • There's a wide range of opinions on what exactly should count as intersex.
    — Emma Austin, The Courier-Journal, 11 June 2018
  • Still, for some people, being intersex might be a part of their identity.
    — Perri O. Blumberg, Women's Health, 21 July 2023
  • The state has a process to note intersex newborns on birth certificates, Spice said.
    — Craig Sailor, The Seattle Times, 17 Sep. 2017
  • About 85 percent of the males collected in the refuges were intersex.
    — National Geographic, 3 Feb. 2016
  • There are a whole bunch of intersex conditions that don’t even go under the transbrella right now.
    — Jackie Strause, The Hollywood Reporter, 25 Sep. 2017
  • As such, the intersex flag makes a statement with two non-gendered colors—yellow and purple.
    — Nicole Harris, Parents, 2 June 2026
  • Being trans—or non-binary, or intersex—is neither a costume nor a joke.
    — Hannah Elyse Simpson, Marie Claire, 26 Aug. 2015
  • Sami, an intersex asylum seeker in Britain, used to be gripped with fear at bedtime.
    — NBC News, 16 Jan. 2018
  • South Africa has enacted laws to protect the rights of intersex persons.
    — Aisha Salaudeen, CNN, 21 Sep. 2019
  • In humans, the term intersex describes a body that falls outside of the strict male-female binary.
    — Laura Baisas Aug 13, Popular Science, 13 Aug. 2025
  • Hida Viloria was born intersex, and grew up in a turbulent household as a girl.
    — Paradise Afshar, ajc, 10 Oct. 2021
  • Such a concept struck a chord with Kaminski, who discovered just last year that she was born intersex.
    — Zoe Ruffner, Vogue, 11 Oct. 2021
  • Researchers are also probing the consequences of intersex for fish health.
    — National Geographic, 3 Feb. 2016
  • In recent years, many have added I and A — intersex and asexual — to the lineup.
    — Clare Mulroy, USA TODAY, 22 Sep. 2022
  • In recent years, many have added I and A — intersex and asexual — to the acronym.
    — Olivia Munson, USA TODAY, 29 Nov. 2022
  • Those who choose not to reduce their testosterone will be allowed to run either against men or in intersex competitions.
    — Andrew Greif, OregonLive.com, 26 May 2018
  • Transgender, intersex and nonbinary inmates now have the right to choose whether to be housed in a male or female prison.
    — Los Angeles Times, 6 Apr. 2021
  • Sporting Gender,' which tackles the thorny top of intersex athletes.
    — oregonlive, 6 Mar. 2020
  • In ancient Greece, the intersex goddess Cybele was worshipped by trans priests.
    — Jennifer Wright, Harper's BAZAAR, 23 Oct. 2018
  • Between 1% and 2% of the population are born with intersex traits, Wiener said.
    — Washington Post, 14 Jan. 2020
  • Gutekanst said the intersex percentage provided was, in fact, inaccurate and used out of context.
    — Jusneel Mahal, BostonGlobe.com, 14 Nov. 2022
  • Gallo appears in Fixed as Frankie, an intersex Dobermann who works at a club that the dogs visit on their raucous night out.
    — Randall Colburn, EW.com, 14 Aug. 2025
  • On the other hand, being intersex means having anatomy or genes that don’t fit typical definitions of male and female.
    — Joan Muwahed, ABC News, 28 Feb. 2020
  • The profile said Schultz identified as nonbinary and intersex and preferred the pronouns they and them.
    — Emanuella Grinberg, CNN, 18 Sep. 2017
  • But her rosy future is suddenly darkened by the discovery of the body of a newborn intersex baby in the factory’s courtyard.
    — Will Tizard, Variety, 9 July 2023
  • This decision pushes Hungary back towards the dark ages and tramples the rights of transgender and intersex people.
    — refinery29.com, 20 May 2020
  • Soon after, Viloria became an activist, and begins working to shine a light on the intersex community.
    — Paradise Afshar, ajc, 10 Oct. 2021
  • As an advocate for intersex awareness, Dalke says she's spent a lot of time thinking about the artificiality of gender norms.
    — Diane Stopyra, Marie Claire, 5 July 2017

intersex

2 of 2 adjective
  • While Barnes has described the red bird as a gay male, there is a chance that the bird could be intersex.
    — Mikelle Street, Them., 4 Dec. 2025
  • But ignorance wasn't bliss for many intersex children or adults.
    — Asher Fogle, Good Housekeeping, 21 Oct. 2016
  • Or the Potomac River where sewage and fertilizer runoff has produced a new breed of intersex fish?
    — Max Holleran, The New Republic, 13 Sep. 2019
  • Opponents also pointed out that the language in the definitions could leave out some intersex people.
    — Marissa Meador, IndyStar, 27 Jan. 2026
  • When nature produces intersex people, the Evangelicals therefore have a bit of a problem.
    — Andrew Sullivan, Daily Intelligencer, 8 Sep. 2017
  • But more recently, intersex activists have argued that a person should have the legal right to consent to cosmetic surgeries performed on one's own body -- an ability infants do not have.
    — Nora Neus, CNN, 13 Jan. 2020
  • The clinic deploys intersex people as patient advocates who can offer support based on personal experience.
    — David Crary, chicagotribune.com, 25 July 2017
  • The ruling triggered an uproar around athletic and gender activists who felt Semenya was unfairly targeted for being a black, intersex woman.
    — Lindsay Crouse, New York Times, 3 Nov. 2019
  • In the spirit of that victory, Blankenship has continued advocating for intersex people on social media and beyond.
    — Zoey Lyttle, People.com, 27 Aug. 2025
  • While both lawsuits and policy efforts are underway to ameliorate the conditions for transgender, non-binary and intersex people behind bars, advocates say lives are at stake.
    — Nora Neus, Cnn video By Lacey Russell, CNN, 23 June 2021
  • Living in bodies often seen as taboo by western society and western medicine, the film looks at the relationships intersex people have with their bodies and their identities in a world that is not always accepting of those born with a difference.
    — Suyin Haynes, Time, 19 June 2019
  • Worldwide, intersex conditions caused by hormonal disruption have occurred in an array of aquatic animals, including alligators, turtles, and frogs.
    — National Geographic, 3 Feb. 2016
  • Members of the community are typically assigned male at birth, occasionally intersex, and adopt traditionally feminine dress, names, pronouns, and mannerisms.
    — Charles Preston, Encyclopedia Britannica, 28 May 2026
  • Lorshbough and interACT work with intersex youth, and says that even before the new IOC ruling, their team had recorded an increase in harassment of young intersex athletes.
    — Rebecca Schneid, Time, 5 Apr. 2026
  • In the early 2000s, intersex individuals in Australia sought and received replacement birth certificates that left gender unspecified.
    — Christine Ro, The Atlantic, 10 Dec. 2017
  • Individuals who are intersex, for example, can have external genitalia and internal genitalia that differ, and individuals with genetic syndromes can have an extra X or Y chromosome.
    — Allison Whitten, Discover Magazine, 23 July 2020
  • The event was organized by the Pride Circle, an organization founded in 2017 to promote the inclusion of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transexual and intersex people in the workforce.
    — Rishi Iyengar, CNN, 12 July 2019
  • That's concerning to Erika Lorshbough, the executive director of interACT, a nonprofit that advocates for intersex youth.
    — Rachel Treisman, NPR, 26 Mar. 2026
  • Equality California and other supporters argued that intersex people should be able to give consent before undergoing surgeries that carry the risk of medical complications, sterilization and psychological damage.
    — Alexei Koseff, SFChronicle.com, 28 Jan. 2020
  • Kansas House members included provisions requiring accommodations for some intersex people born with chromosomes, genitalia, or reproductive organs not associated with typical definitions for males or females.
    — John Hanna, Anchorage Daily News, 4 Apr. 2023

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'intersex.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

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