Demiboy
Partly a boy or man, and partly something else.
A demiboy (also written demi boy or demi-boy) is someone who is partly a boy or man, and partly something else. The identification is genuine but does not account for the whole of it.
Demi means half, which is a rough guide rather than a measurement. It is not a fifty-fifty division between two genders. It is a partial fit: the word man applies, up to a point, and something remains that it does not reach.
The remainder is usually not woman. For most demiboys it is unlabelled, or agender, or simply nothing, which is exactly what separates demiboy from bigender. Filling in the blank with the opposite category is an assumption, not a definition.
It falls under the nonbinary umbrella. Partial identification with a binary gender is not the same as holding it, and the binary has no slot for someone who is mostly but not entirely a man.
Demiboys can be AMAB or AFAB. An AFAB demiboy is often transmasculine as well, and the two words are doing different jobs: transmasc names a direction of travel, demiboy names where he ended up. Neither one implies the other.
Pronouns do not follow from the word. He/him is common, he/they is very common, and they/them alone is used too. The boy in demiboy is about identification rather than about what he wants to be called.
Demiboy has several other names for the same identity. The LGBTQIA+ Wiki and a 2024 PinkNews explainer list demiman, demimale, demiguy, demidude and demibloke, so someone who says demimale is describing the same partial connection to being a man.
Demiboy is not half man half woman, and it is not indecision
The instinct is to complete the equation: if he is half a man, the other half must be a woman. It usually is not. The rest is most often nothing at all, and that absence is a different experience from holding two genders, which is why demiboy and bigender are not interchangeable.
The second misreading treats demiboy as a stopping point on the way to a real answer. For most demiboys this is the answer. A partial identification can be as settled and as long-standing as a complete one.
Saying it well
Say this
- I am a demiboy.
- Partly a man, and the rest is not anything in particular.
- He/they works for me.
- Demiboy, which is under the nonbinary umbrella.
Not this
- So you are half a man and half a woman?
- You will pick one eventually
- Assuming he/him without asking
- Demiboy just means man who is not very masculine
Questions people actually ask
What is a demiboy?
Someone who partly identifies as a boy or man and partly does not. The connection is real but incomplete.
Is demiboy nonbinary?
Yes. A partial identification with a binary gender does not fit inside the binary, so it sits under the nonbinary umbrella. If you are wondering whether a word like this fits you, am I non-binary? is a good place to start.
What is the other part of a demiboy?
Usually nothing in particular. It can be agender or unlabelled, and it does not default to woman. That is what distinguishes demiboy from bigender.
Can an AFAB person be a demiboy?
Yes, and many are transmasculine as well. Transmasc describes a direction, demiboy describes a destination, and they are independent.
What pronouns do demiboys use?
He/him and he/they are both common, and they/them alone is used too. Ask rather than infer it from the word.
What is the difference between a demiboy and a demigirl?
Which gender the partial connection is with. A demiboy is partly a boy or man; a demigirl is partly a girl or woman. For both, the rest is usually unlabelled or agender, and neither word depends on the sex assigned at birth.
Is demimale the same as demiboy?
Yes. The LGBTQIA+ Wiki and a 2024 PinkNews explainer list demiman, demimale, demiguy, demidude and demibloke as other names for the same identity.