sex drive
Meaning of sex drive: Sex drive is the everyday term for libido, a person's level of motivation or desire for sexual activity.
Definition of sex drive
Sex drive is a common term for libido, referring to a person's level of motivation or desire for sexual activity. Like other aspects of sexual function, it is shaped by a combination of hormonal, psychological, and relational influences rather than by any single factor, and it commonly changes across a person's life in response to stress, overall health, relationships, and medication.
Sex drive tends to be associated most closely with testosterone, though estrogen and other hormones also play a role, and the connection between hormone levels and desire is not perfectly consistent from person to person. Numerous medical conditions and medications, including certain antidepressants, hormonal treatments, and chronic illnesses, are recognized to lower sex drive as a side effect.
Because sex drive naturally varies so widely among healthy people, evaluating a change in sex drive generally focuses on whether it represents a distressing shift from a person's own baseline rather than a comparison against an average or expected level.
Also known as
Used in a sentence
A decline in sex drive was discussed as a possible side effect of the patient's new medication.
Good to know
Sex drive and sexual drive are used interchangeably, and evaluation generally focuses on whether a change is new and distressing for a person rather than a comparison against a population average.