womanish
Pronunciation
  • (British) IPA: /ˈwʊmənɪʃ/
Adjective

womanish

  1. (often pejorative) Characteristic of a woman; feminine; effeminate. [from 14th c.]
    • 1946, Bertrand Russell, History of Western Philosophy, I.20:
      Friends are a comfort in misfortune, but one should not make them unhappy by seeking their sympathy, as is done by women and womanish men.
    • 1982, Lawrence Durrell, Constance, Faber & Faber 2004 (Avignon Quintet), p. 753:
      Perhaps he did too, for he turned scarlet and turned his face away to the wall, with a womanish gesture of shyness.
  2. Carried out by or pertaining to a woman. [from 14th c.]
    • 1590, Edmund Spenser, The Faerie Queene, III.7:
      And gan recomfort her in her rude wyse, / With womanish compassion of her plaint, / Wiping the teares from her suffused eyes [...].
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