Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun Difficult or painful sexual intercourse.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun In pathology, inability to perform the sexual act without pain: usually applied to females.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun Painful or difficult sexual intercourse, especially in women.

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[dys– + Greek pareunos, lying with (para-, beside, with; see para– + eunē, bed).]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From dys- + Ancient Greek πάρευνος (pareunos, "lying beside, lying with").

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Examples

  • And women who are not taking hormone replacement in the menopause often complain of what we call dyspareunia, which is pain with intercourse, because of dryness and lack of lubrication.

    CNN Transcript - Larry King Live: What Can Be Done About Women Losing Their Sex Drives? - May 25, 2000 2000

  • The origin of the word dyspareunia shows that this may be the case, for _dyspareunos_ in Greek means badly mated.

    Woman Her Sex and Love Life William J. Robinson

  • It's categorised medically as a lack of arousal or desire to have sex; dyspareunia (pain or discomfort during intercourse), diminished blood flow to the vagina, and an inability to achieve orgasm.

    The race to discover Viagra for women 2010

  • This can bring on different aspects of pain, such as dysmenorrhea - painful, sometimes disabling cramps during menses; pain may get worse over time (progressive pain), also lower back pains linked to the pelvis, chronic pelvic pain - typically accompanied by lower back pain or abdominal pain, dyspareunia - painful sex, dysuria - urinary urgency, frequency, and sometimes painful voiding.

    Robyn N. Cohen: Why Endometriosis Needs More Media Attention 2010

  • The approval was based on data from a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, multicenter study (n = 275), showing that SCE-A vaginal cream was significantly more effective than placebo for reduction of symptoms of vaginal dryness (P = .0016) and dyspareunia (P = .0002) during a 12-week period.

    If this is what the FDA approves... GreenFertility 2009

  • On November 28, the FDA approved synthetic conjugated estrogens-A 0.625 mg/g vaginal cream SCE-A Vaginal Cream; Duramed Pharmaceuticals, Inc for the treatment of moderate to severe vaginal dryness and moderate to severe dyspareunia, which are both symptoms of vulvar and vaginal atrophy due to menopause.

    Archive 2009-01-01 GreenFertility 2009

  • On November 28, the FDA approved synthetic conjugated estrogens-A 0.625 mg/g vaginal cream SCE-A Vaginal Cream; Duramed Pharmaceuticals, Inc for the treatment of moderate to severe vaginal dryness and moderate to severe dyspareunia, which are both symptoms of vulvar and vaginal atrophy due to menopause.

    If this is what the FDA approves... GreenFertility 2009

  • The approval was based on data from a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, multicenter study (n = 275), showing that SCE-A vaginal cream was significantly more effective than placebo for reduction of symptoms of vaginal dryness (P = .0016) and dyspareunia (P = .0002) during a 12-week period.

    Archive 2009-01-01 GreenFertility 2009

  • Another sexual “dysfunction” is dyspareunia, or genital pain associated with sexual intercourse.

    Our Bodies, Ourselves: Menopause M.D. Vivian Pinn 2006

  • Look up “dyspareunia” – via Google or any other search engine of your choice.

    Think Progress » Women can’t say no after sex has started, 2006

Comments

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  • “Meana, who serves with Chivers on the board of Archives of Sexual Behavior, entered the field of sexology in the late 1990s and began by working clinically and carrying out research on dyspareunia — women’s genital pain during intercourse.�?

    The New York Times, What Do Women Want?, by Daniel Bergner, January 22, 2009

    January 24, 2009