---
title: Mx.
slug: mx
speech: noun
defined: true
excerpt: gender-neutral honorific or title of courtesy, equivalent to Ma'am, Madam, Miss, Mr, Mrs, Mrs, Sir.
reading:
  - text: 'This Gender-Neutral Word Could Replace Mr. and Ms.'
  - text: 'Merriam-Webster definition'
    href: https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/MX
---

gender-neutral honorific or title of courtesy, equivalent to Ma'am, Madam, Miss, Mr, Mrs, Mrs, Sir.

## Considerations

In formal settings, defaulting to gendered titles of courtesy can misgender people. While titles and salutations are not necessarily indicative of gender, there tends to be a corrolation. For example, **Ma'am** tends to be used to refer to woman- or femme-assumed individuals.

Mx allows you to maintain formality without making assumptions about people's titles/saluations and/or gender.

In the same vein of [pronouns](/definitions/pronouns), it's important to not make assumptions about which honorific to use for someone and instead ask for explicit consent whenever possible.

Many (though not all) nonbinary people might opt to use Mx.

## Pronunciation

mix (məks, ˈmiks)