What is a word for a man who has a lot of sexual relationships?

Question

What do you call a man who loves and tries to have many sexual relationships with girls and usually doesn't fall in love with any of them?

To clear what I'm looking for, Suppose a guy at work/university who tries to have sexual relationship with many girls and changes his choice continually one after another!

I think the word I would use depends on whether he was successful or not and also whether you mean "girls" as girls or slang for young (adult) women. — Kit Z. Fox, May 25 '11 at 00:16
@Kit: Never thought about my question that specific! I meant adult women. Your suggestion for both cases is welcomed.
@Kirk Hammett: I like to hear some slang too. — Manoochehr, May 25 '11 at 19:51

score 16 · Answer 1 · edited May 25 '11 at 14:29

16

It is often referred to as a Casanova after the Venetian womaniser.

Also related, but actually predating the real person Giacomo Casanova is the fictional character Don Juan who has inspired among other masterpieces the Opera "Don Giovanni" by Mozart and the play "Dom Juan" by Molière.

Wikipedia pleasantly notes that Giacomo Casanova probably attended the première of Mozart's opera in Prague.

edited May 25 '11 at 14:29

Paul Amerigo Pajo

6,557

answered May 24 '11 at 22:14

Alain Pannetier Φ

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Also Don Juan from the same source – mgb May 24 '11 at 22:18
Thanks Martin. May I add this to the answer ? – Alain Pannetier Φ May 24 '11 at 22:19
@That's the idea of SE! I would say Don Juan is a slightly old fashioned phrase – mgb May 24 '11 at 22:21
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I think Don Juan and Casanova are both pretty old fashioned, but both would probably be readily understood by a native speaker. – Kit Z. Fox May 25 '11 at 00:14
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@Kit: I agree. I think man-whore would be a more contemporary answer. – josh3736 May 25 '11 at 01:21
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what about "womanizer" / "womaniser" itself? – Sean Patrick Floyd May 25 '11 at 16:48
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@Kit: Depends on where you're from. Don Juan may be old-fashioned, but Casanova certainly isn't. You could also shorten Don Juan to DJ to sound more hip ;) – Jimi Oke May 26 '11 at 00:37

FumbleFingers · Accepted Answer · 2011-05-26T15:59:56.497

I suggest Lothario defined by Wikipedia defined by as an unscrupulous seducer of women.

It's from the name of such a character in Nicholas Rowe's 1703 tragedy The Fair Penitent

dictionary.com adds the definitions rake, libertine and synonyms Romeo, Don Juan, Casanova.

The Office Romeo is a well-worn term, but I don't often hear Romeo on its own.

To my ear, Don Juan and Casanova have become rather quaint 'literary' clichés much overused by the mass-media, but somehow Lothario still seems to have a certain freshness. Maybe using it gives the impression you're well-read, rather than getting all your words from popular tv dramas.

score 15 · Answer 3 · answered May 24 '11 at 22:24

15

Promiscuous - not being restricted to just one sexual partner. It is gender-neutral, so you'll still have to specify the sex of the subject.

answered May 24 '11 at 22:24

Randolf Richardson

902

4

isn't it an adjective? – Louis Rhys May 25 '11 at 03:08

score 11 · Answer 4 · answered May 24 '11 at 23:08

11

philanderer - To engage in many love affairs, especially with a frivolous or casual attitude. Used of a man.

answered May 24 '11 at 23:08

Charles Kaiser

111

Philanderer is usually used for a married man who is cheating on his wife, I think. – Kit Z. Fox May 25 '11 at 00:05
@Kit: Not really. Though a large part of its usage may address married men, the word itself carries no connotation of marital status. – Robusto May 25 '11 at 13:51

score 9 · Answer 5 · answered May 24 '11 at 22:59

9

Satyromaniac [sey-tuh-roh-mey-nee-ak]:

a lascivious man; lecher

It derives from Greek (sátyro) for the mythical woodland creature that was well-known for its debauchery. The female equivalent is far more recognizable, nymphomaniac.

answered May 24 '11 at 22:59

gbutters

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2

+1 because it has more syllables than you could shake a stick at. – music2myear May 25 '11 at 14:02
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Nymphomaniac is actually truly feminine and satyromaniac is the masculine? – Chris Marisic May 25 '11 at 14:44
Honestly, I think I'd go with lecher before satyromaniac...If only to avoid the "big word" look.-_- – kitukwfyer May 25 '11 at 20:08
+1 for the correctness of the answer and the fast that I will never say it out loud, not because I don't know any, but for fear of pronouncing it incorrectly. – JTP - Apologise to Monica Feb 02 '13 at 19:12

score 8 · Answer 6 · edited May 26 '11 at 07:56

8

I believe common usage for such a person is a "man-whore". I'd call him a narcissist or a creep or some other such term.

edited May 26 '11 at 07:56

lightsong

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answered May 24 '11 at 22:11

music2myear

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@music2myear: man-whore is fairly non-standard slang, and a narcissist is obsessed with himself rather than women. And while creep (even when correctly spelt) was particularly used with that specific meaning 60-70 years ago, today it's used for just about any undesirable person hanging around a group. – FumbleFingers May 24 '11 at 22:18
I would say sleeping with a lot of people without regard for them could be a symptom of narcissism, the self love trumping regard for others. I wouldn't necessarily call a man-whore a narcissist. – Matt E. Эллен May 24 '11 at 22:22
@FumbleFingers: I would say that man-whore is actually fairly common slang, at least in the US. When I read the title of this question, man-whore was the first thing that popped into my mind, so +1! – josh3736 May 25 '11 at 01:17
@josh3736: Perhaps it's a generational thing. If we were talking about a young unattached guy, I'd just call him normal. If he was older, but was still living like that, I'd want to be more circumspect. After all, if we were in an office, presumably at any given time he'd either be shagging one of the women there, or trying to get into her pants. Maybe the boss's, and that could be seriously disruptive. So I'd just put it about that he was a bit of a Lothario and let people make up their own minds. – FumbleFingers May 25 '11 at 01:27
@FumbleFingers I agree with josh3736 that "man-whore" is common slang in the under 35 crowd. I'm not sure that it's the best term here though. – Kit Z. Fox May 25 '11 at 01:27
@Kit: What about gays, are they still man-whores? – FumbleFingers May 25 '11 at 01:33
@FumbleFingers Yes, they are still man-whores. – Kit Z. Fox May 25 '11 at 01:50
2

In my (admittedly not at all "in" set) we simply used "slut" for both genders when it seemed appropriate. As in "In Star Trek TOS the Captain was the slut, but in TNG it was the XO." – dmckee --- ex-moderator kitten May 25 '11 at 02:34
1

@dmckee: Absolutely. Except I think gender-neutral "slut" is mostly used by and of under-30's, but the older generation only use it for women. And middle-aged people just don't talk about that kind of thing much anyway. Too old to bandy it around in idle banter, too young to get morally indignant enough to use it in earnest. – FumbleFingers May 25 '11 at 02:49
@FumbleFingers: Usage of man-whore is most definitely a generational thing -- anecdotally, usage is common among my peers (20s), but very uncommon among older people. However, I'd disagree with calling a young, unattached guy who engages in a lot of flings as normal: the median number of lifetime sexual partners for an adult male is seven. A guy in university who runs through 7 partners in a semester would qualify as a man-whore; but research tells us those types are more of an exception (<29%), not 'normal.' – josh3736 May 25 '11 at 04:52
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@josh3736: To be honest, by the time that guy in uni was on his 4th or 5th partner in a single term, I'd be more concerned about the standards of the next woman in line. I'd also say that any behaviour pattern applicable to 25-30% of the population qualifies as 'normal' in my book, whether I endorse it or not. – FumbleFingers May 25 '11 at 20:34

Kit Z. Fox · Answer 7 · 2014-10-01T11:10:29.833

I'm sure my slang will date me, but the first word I thought of was player (Urban Dictionary): a man who has sexual relations with lots of women, usually by deceiving them into thinking that he truly cares. If he's good at it, he'd be a mackdaddy (Urban Dictionary). If he's bad at it, he'd be a sleaze (Urban Dictionary) or a pervert (Dictionary.com)

Also, as mentioned in the other answers, man-whore and male slut or just slut would also be suitable. These three imply promiscuity, but with less deception, I think.

Womanizer or philanderer are good non-slang versions of the same, as are the various names of iconic womanizers that were mentioned in other answers.

score 3 · Answer 8 · answered May 25 '11 at 00:01

3

I've heard "swordsman" used in that respect, usually in a somewhat sarcastic tone. For instance, "He thinks he's quite the swordsman".

answered May 25 '11 at 00:01

Dave

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score 3 · Answer 9 · answered May 25 '11 at 19:51

3

I'd suggest an apposite word is cocksman.

answered May 25 '11 at 19:51

Brian Hooper

36,868

score 2 · Answer 10 · answered May 25 '11 at 09:58

2

I knew a guy just like you described and he got a nickname "Male Tart"

answered May 25 '11 at 09:58

Matt Wilko

117

I often hear just tart used by the younger generation for male & female. Sometimes maybe a bit facetiously when refering to a male, but certainly not always. For my generation I think it's like slut. We just don't tend to use any such words much at all. – FumbleFingers May 25 '11 at 14:12
I've heard "slut" referring to man a number of times- but never once referring to a woman. – JenSCDC Oct 01 '14 at 20:27

What is a word for a man who has a lot of sexual relationships?

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