effeminacy
Americannoun
Etymology
Origin of effeminacy
First recorded in 1595–1605; effemin(ate) + -acy
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Dandyism’s persistent associations with criminality, effeminacy and homosexuality would achieve notoriety in Oscar Wilde’s 1895 trials.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jan. 15, 2026
This was defined by a cultivated or performed effeminacy, including make-up, falsetto, and the use of "camp names" and female pronouns.
From Salon ● Feb. 19, 2022
With Abe and his effeminacy, Chabon is all patience.
From Slate ● May 17, 2018
Perhaps most frustrating were those adjectives that couched Wolf’s perceived effeminacy – his “flamboyance” – as a marketable quirk.
From The Guardian ● Apr. 11, 2018
There is no effeminacy in the title "nursing fathers," but the contrary.
From How to be Happy Though Married Being a Handbook to Marriage by Edward John Hardy
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
