emasculate
Americanverb (used with object)
-
to deprive of strength; weaken.
The law was emasculated by its opponents, making it largely ineffective by the time it was passed.
- Synonyms:
- soften, devitalize, undermine, debilitate
-
to make (a man) feel less masculine.
Though some men might feel emasculated not making an income, I'm very happy as a stay-at-home father.
-
to remove the testicles of; castrate.
adjective
verb
-
to remove the testicles of; castrate; geld
-
to deprive of vigour, effectiveness, etc
-
botany to remove the stamens from (a flower) to prevent self-pollination for the purposes of plant breeding
adjective
-
castrated; gelded
-
deprived of strength, effectiveness, etc
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
-
emasculationnoun
-
emasculatornoun
-
self-emasculationnoun
-
emasculativeadjective
-
emasculatoryadjective
-
unemasculatedadjective
-
unemasculativeadjective
-
unemasculatoryadjective
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
emasculatesimple
-
emasculatessimple
-
have emasculatedperfect
-
has emasculatedperfect
-
am emasculatingprogressive
-
are emasculatingprogressive
-
is emasculatingprogressive
-
have been emasculatingperfect progressive
-
has been emasculatingperfect progressive
Past
-
emasculatedsimple
-
had emasculatedperfect
-
was emasculatingprogressive
-
were emasculatingprogressive
-
had been emasculatingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of emasculate
First recorded in 1600–10; from Latin ēmasculātus (past participle of ēmasculāre ), equivalent to ē- “from”+ māscul(us) “male” + -ātus adjective suffix; see origin at e- 1, male, -ate 1
Explanation
When you emasculate something or someone, you take away its strength. Some people believe that having a tough female boss can emasculate male employees. The Latin emasculatus literally means "to castrate," though it is usually used figuratively, the same way emasculate is sometimes used to suggest a man isn't very manly. You may have seen bullies hassle a guy, saying he can't beat up anyone, or hit a curveball, or. . .you get the idea. Such emasculating is also insulting to women because it suggests strength and female are opposites.
Vocabulary lists containing emasculate
Dry
Looking to grow your vocabulary? Check out this interactive, curated word list from our team of English language specialists at Vocabulary.com – one of over 17,000 lists we've built to help learners worldwide!
In the Country We Love
Interested in learning more words like this one? Our team at Vocabulary.com has got you covered! You can review flashcards, quiz yourself, practice spelling, and more – and it's all completely free to use!
"Trying to Find Chinatown" by David Henry Hwang
Want to remember this word for good? Start your learning journey today with our library of interactive, themed word lists built by the experts at Vocabulary.com – we'll help you make the most of your study time!
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.
See Examples For:
That dynamic was taboo for generations of Americans who feared it might emasculate men and ruin couples’ romantic lives.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 27, 2025
It's childish and weird to act like even looking at a tampon box will emasculate you.
From Salon ● Aug. 8, 2024
The British attempted to correct the problem by using another lubricant, but Indian troops remained suspicious and some began to believe the British were intentionally using lubricants made of offensive materials to emasculate the sepoys.
From Textbooks ● Dec. 14, 2022
Or they came from players, who used the barbs as a way to emasculate or demean the opponents across from them.
From New York Times ● Apr. 23, 2018
The second measure will be to assign public instruction to the Society of Jesus—it alone is able to emasculate the human species.
From The Galley Slave's Ring or The Family of Lebrenn. A Tale of The French Revolution of 1848 by Sue, Eug?ne
“One guy presents himself as a kind of salt of the earth, a person you could hang out with, and then effectively emasculates the other by presenting them as the opposite.”
From New York Times ● Nov. 1, 2020
“I wanted a gender pronoun that was fun, and that immediately emasculates you—because you can’t roll your eyes and say ‘judy’ without being camp,” Mac told the Guardian during the “24-Decade” run.
From The New Yorker ● Apr. 20, 2019
New York artist Cassady Benson illustrated a new version of this fowl emperor that emasculates him by removing his rooster comb and turning him into a round hen guarding a mysterious egg.
From Slate ● Mar. 20, 2017
Eichhorst thinks he’s won the Lumen, allegedly the key to worldwide vampire eradication, but Palmer publicly emasculates him by yanking funds.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 5, 2015
Self-Government is necessary to the self-respect and dignity of a People; Other-Government emasculates a Nation, lowers its character, and lessens its capacity.
From The Case for India by Besant, Annie Wood
It seems to me the premise is flawed—that men are either emasculated or overly macho.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 24, 2026
Hegseth’s language choices and petulant tone do not demonstrate an ignorance of what rhetorical situations demand of him; instead, they reflect a refusal to be emasculated by such cumbersome norms.
From Salon ● Mar. 10, 2026
Allow me to weigh in here, given that you mentioned it in your letter: It’s not your job to reduce your life savings or net worth so your husband doesn’t feel threatened or emasculated.
From MarketWatch ● Jan. 22, 2026
“He emasculated any public agency that might put a brake on his power,” Hunt said.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 11, 2024
He somehow manages to flash a cool smile, even in his most emasculated state.
From "Dry" by Neal Shusterman and Jarrod Shusterman
Learning is itself viewed with suspicion, as an emasculating enterprise best avoided for more punching and bragging.
From Salon ● Jun. 17, 2026
Poor Mr. Biswas, a man of meager prospects but irrepressible pride, must suffer through a series of demeaning dwellings to which his in-laws, the emasculating Tulsis, confine him.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 10, 2026
I also worry she is emasculating my son.
From Slate ● Aug. 5, 2021
A new entertainment technology, TV, was emasculating cinema as a cultural force, and film studios had started to fossilize into bottom line-oriented businesses.
From New York Times ● Nov. 28, 2020
Between 1867 and 1871, he pushed himself even harder, growing thousands of hawkweeds in another patch of garden, emasculating the flowers with the same forceps, and dusting pollen with the same paintbrush.
From "The Gene" by Siddhartha Mukherjee
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.
