'sex-drive-reducing' is a modern English compound formed from 'sex' + 'drive' + the present participle 'reducing'. 'sex' originates from Latin, specifically the word 'sexus' meaning 'gender/sex'; 'drive' originates from Old English 'drīfan' meaning 'to drive, urge'; 'reduce' originates from Latin 'reducere', where 're-' meant 'back' and 'ducere' meant 'to lead'.

'sex' entered English via Latin (and Old French) and kept its core sense of biological distinction; 'drive' developed from Old English verbs meaning 'to drive, push' and broadened to include urges; 'reduce' came into English via Old French 'reduire' from Latin 'reducere' and the present participle form 'reducing' became a standard way to create descriptive modifiers (e.g., 'something-reducing'). Those elements were combined in modern English to form descriptive compounds like 'sex-drive-reducing'.

Individually, the components meant 'biological sex' ('sex'), 'to push or urge' ('drive'), and 'to lead back' ('reduce' originally), but over time 'reduce' evolved to mean 'make smaller' or 'diminish'. The compound now specifically means 'causing a diminishment of sexual desire'.