Dictionary of gender neutral language

Inclusive and gender neutral is not just respecting someone's pronouns. It's also describing their job, position, relationship etc. in a way that doesn't assume their gender. Not all firefighters are “firemen”. Not every spouse is a “husband” or a “wife”.

When referring to someone whose gender you don't know, to a group of people of mixed gender, and especially to nonbinary people who explicitly prefer them, use the neutral forms.

Below we present a dictionary of the words to watch out for. You can contribute to it and add your suggestions.

Keep in mind that it's a dictionary of ideas, proposals. Not all quoted forms will make sense in every context, not all are fully gender neutral (but they're used by some nonbinary people to express themselves outside of the gender binary), and not every word here can be used for any given nonbinary person – just ask what they prefer to be called.

Share: