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Little story first: every time someone asks me for my sexuality I either say bisexual (cause it's the easiest to explain) or that I don't label myself. Now this is not exactly accurate because I simply don't know a fitting word. I know that there is a word for being attracted to someone smart but I've never found one for being attracted to someone who can simply talk well. (Especially teachers) A friend and I were joking around the other day, and she made up the word "eloquentsexual-but-mainly-for-teachers", which is kinda funny but sounds really stupid.

So my actual question would be: Is there a word for it?

If there isn't - which I suspect - I'd like a suggestion for a word. Eloquentsexual doesn't really feel right.

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    Most people who like women don’t like all women and the same for men whip like men. They may prefer only blondes or only athletic builds etc. But they don’t say they are blonde-sexual It sounds like you are fundamentally bisexual with a taste for those who now how to perform oratio...
    – Jim
    Jun 3, 2017 at 23:56
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    I agree with Jim. One's sexuality is still, notwithstanding the increasing number of classifications of gender, defined by the sex or gender of the people you are attracted to, not their skills or physique. Those preferences could be classified as "taste". I'm a heterosexual, and that doesn't change if I am not sexually attracted to certain types of women. You may be looking for a word ending in -phile rather than -sexual. Going with Jim's suggestion, you might consider oratiophile.
    – oerkelens
    Jun 4, 2017 at 5:02
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    @oerkelens. Combining Latin (oratio) and Greek (phile) in the same word is really no-no.
    – fdb
    Jun 4, 2017 at 20:13
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    @fdb Really? Someone should have told the person who coined automobile and television then. Or is it only acceptable if the Greek comes first? :P But if it really bothers you, how about ritorophile, neatly Greek/Greek?
    – oerkelens
    Jun 4, 2017 at 20:15
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    @Jim What's this now about whipping men? ;-)
    – tchrist ♦
    Jun 5, 2017 at 3:47

3 Answers 3

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Greek actually has φῐλορήτωρ "lover of rhetoricians". So what about "philorhetor"?

http://perseus.uchicago.edu/cgi-bin/philologic/getobject.pl?c.79:8:6.LSJ

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    Seems legit. :-)
    – Sebau-nu-mu
    Jun 4, 2017 at 20:38
  • The OP is seeking a word that implies that the attraction is sexual; philo- does not do that.
    – jsw29
    Oct 23 at 18:34
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Calliope: "the muse who presides over eloquence and epic poetry"

or

Logophile [law-guh-fahyl, log-uh-]/ noun

  1. a lover of words.
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    Isn't a logophile a lover of words, not a lover of someone who uses words well?
    – Andrew Leach ♦
    Jun 12, 2017 at 17:18
  • @AndrewLeach yes, that's true. But if it's the words that make her love the person, perhaps it is a sort of a transitive property?
    – Eliot G York
    Jun 12, 2017 at 18:21
  • Perhaps it's a logophilephile?
    – Eliot G York
    Jun 12, 2017 at 18:23
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If you want to coin a new word (which is fine) I would suggest "elequentosexual" with "o". This would conform better with the rules for Greek/Latin/English compounds. Which (I should think) is important for you in particular.

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  • If combining Latin and Greek elements into a compound is a barbarism (it’s not—creating compounds from elements that originate in different languages is something that’s been done in all compounding languages since forever, and it’s a natural part of language development), then surely coupling athematic, third-class participles with thematic, second-class combining vowels is worse.
    – Janus Bahs Jacquet
    Jun 12, 2017 at 17:24
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    @JanusBahsJacquet. It is actually very common in Greek and Latin compounds to add the thematic vowel /o/ to an athematic Vorderglied. Witness physi-o-logist.
    – fdb
    Jun 12, 2017 at 18:35

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