性欲(せいよく)

Compound of 性(せい) ('sex; sexuality') and 欲(よく) ('desire; appetite'). The 〜欲(よく) suffix forms many 'appetite/desire' words: 食欲(しょくよく) ('appetite'), 睡眠欲(すいみんよく) ('desire for sleep'), 金銭欲(きんせんよく) ('desire for money'), 物欲(ぶつよく) ('materialism').

Usage

• Typical predicates: が強(つよ)い / が弱(よわ)い ('strong / weak sex drive'), がある / がない ('to have / not have sexual desire'), が衰(おとろ)える ('to decline'), を抑(おさ)える ('to suppress').
• Neutral and clinical in tone. Used without embarrassment in health articles, counseling, and everyday adult conversation among close friends, though not typically in formal public speech.
• Distinct from 性的(せいてき)魅力(みりょく) ('sexual appeal'), which is the attractiveness a person possesses, and from 色欲(しきよく) ('lust'), which is more literary.

Common collocations

• 性欲(せいよく)が強(つよ)い / 弱(よわ)い: to have a strong / weak sex drive
• 性欲(せいよく)がある/ない: to have / not have sexual desire
• 性欲(せいよく)を抑(おさ)える: to suppress sexual desire
• 性欲(せいよく)を満(み)たす: to satisfy sexual desire
• 性欲(せいよく)が衰(おとろ)える: for sex drive to decline
• 性欲(せいよく)の対象(たいしょう): object of sexual desire
• 性欲(せいよく)減退(げんたい): decrease in libido (medical)

Similar words

• リビドー: libido — psychoanalytic loanword; technical usage.
• 情欲(じょうよく): lust; carnal desire — stronger, more literary overtones.
• 色欲(しきよく): lust — old-fashioned, often moral or religious contexts.
• 性衝動(せいしょうどう): sexual impulse — emphasizes the momentary drive.
• 性的(せいてき)欲求(よっきゅう): sexual desire — near-synonymous phrase, slightly more clinical.

Cultural note

人間(にんげん)の三大(さんだい)欲求(よっきゅう) ('the three great human desires': food, sleep, sex) is a widely known everyday framing in Japan and appears in popular articles, manga, and conversation.