cross-dressing

Definition

Or: crossdressing / X-dressing , dressing in clothing usually worn by the opposite sex by a heterosexual male or female to relieve gender discomfort. Cross-dressing may also be carried out as part of a disguise, for purposes of entertainment, homosexual role playing, for humiliation and discipline (as in powereroticism), to achieve sexual excitement (transvestism), or to fill a paraphilic need. It ranges from wearing one or two items of clothing, such as panties and a bra, to the elaborate full-scale burlesque of drag queens.
See also: transvestism.