womanizer

American  

[woom-uh-nahy-zer] / ˈwʊm əˌnaɪ zər /

especially British, womaniser

noun

1. a philanderer.

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Etymology

Origin of womanizer

First recorded in 1920–25; womanize + -er ¹

Explanation

If you've ever known a man who can't keep his eyes off every single woman who walks by, you can call him a womanizer — especially if he's constantly handing out his phone number. A womanizer is a man who always seems to have a new girlfriend, and who has no hesitation about starting up a new relationship before he's ended the last one. Usually, these relationships are sexual and don't last long. The noun womanizer comes from the verb womanize, which originally meant "to make effeminate." By the late 1800s, the meaning shifted to mean "to chase women."

Example Sentences

The inclusion of a clone of Mahatma Gandhi, depicted as a party animal and a womanizer, led to protests and hunger strikes, ultimately getting the plug pulled on the show.

From Seattle Times • Feb. 29, 2024

It feels like an amusingly counterintuitive rendering of the famously macho womanizer, until we recall that Berlusconi was a cruise ship crooner in the 1960s; in Torkia’s rendering, he still is.

From New York Times • Apr. 4, 2023

They’ve been reunited by the death of their father, Ben, an unreliable womanizer who made his boys and their mothers miserable, though he was well-liked by seemingly everybody else.

From Los Angeles Times • Oct. 21, 2022

Don Draper was as charming as the ads he wrote, but he was a chronic womanizer, a lousy dad and a subpar boss.

From Washington Post • Aug. 13, 2021

Burr’s reputation as a notorious womanizer or as a lavish spender who always managed to stay one step ahead of his creditors did not trouble Hamilton.

From "Founding Brothers: The Revolutionary Generation" by Joseph J. Ellis