promiscuous

C2+ Topic:Describing Qualities

US /prəˈmɪskjuəs/ UK /prəˈmɪskjuəs/ See IPA manual

Meanings

1

adj
indiscriminate or undiscriminating in mixing or choice

The collection was a promiscuous jumble of styles.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

1 adj · indiscriminate or... indiscriminate undiscriminating random mixed haphazard casual disorderly

Opposites

selective discriminating chaste monogamous fastidious

Word family

Forms promiscuously

Derived forms promiscuouslypromiscuousnesspromiscuity

Simplified etymology

Promiscuous ultimately shares the Latin source miscere, “to mix,” with miscellany. Its early sense was “consisting of elements mixed together,” which developed into “indiscriminate” and “undiscriminating,” and then gave rise to the notion of “casual.”

Etymology

From Latin promiscuus ('mixed, indiscriminate'), from pro- (intensive) + miscere ('to mix').

promiscuus Latin miscere Latin *meyǵ- Proto-Indo-European

View etymology graph ->

Topics

Describing Qualities Word Formation & Derivatives

External links

# promiscuous

**Type:** Word
**Level:** C2+
**Part of speech:** adj
**IPA (US):** /prəˈmɪskjuəs/
**IPA (UK):** /prəˈmɪskjuəs/

## Meanings
1. indiscriminate or undiscriminating in mixing or choice

## Examples
- The collection was a promiscuous jumble of styles.

## Synonyms
- indiscriminate
- undiscriminating
- random
- mixed
- haphazard
- casual
- disorderly

## Antonyms
- selective
- discriminating
- chaste
- monogamous
- fastidious

## Derived Forms
- promiscuously
- promiscuousness
- promiscuity

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: promiscuus
- Root: miscere
- Root: *meyǵ-

## Etymology
From Latin promiscuus ('mixed, indiscriminate'), from pro- (intensive) + miscere ('to mix').

## AI Etymology
Promiscuous comes from Latin promiscuus ('mixed, indiscriminate'), from pro- (intensive) + miscere ('to mix'). The historical chain includes Latin promiscuus, Latin miscere, and Proto-Indo-European *meyǵ-. The quoted older senses, "mixed, indiscriminate" and "to mix", supply the semantic anchors for promiscuous. The formation is best read as compound and borrowed: the word promiscuous carries its older form-history into a compact English lexical shape. In present English it is used as a adj, "indiscriminate or undiscriminating in mixing or choice". English derivatives include promiscuously, promiscuousness, and promiscuity. The result is a adj whose etymology preserves both the older form and the later English specialization.

## Topics
- Describing Qualities
- Word Formation & Derivatives

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