Demisexual

Demisexual describes someone who feels sexual attraction only after forming a strong emotional bond. It sits on the asexual spectrum, between fully asexual and allosexual, which is why the "demi" prefix meaning half or partial is used. Demisexual people are not indifferent to sex or unable to enjoy it. They simply do not feel attraction based on someone's looks or a first meeting. Instead, desire tends to emerge only within relationships of trust and closeness. The distinction rests on what researchers call secondary attraction, which builds from knowing a person rather than from immediately visible traits. The term spread through online asexual communities in the mid-2000s and gives language to an experience that mainstream culture often assumes everyone shares.