fair sex

American  

Or fairer sex

noun

Older Use: Sometimes Offensive.

1. women as a group (usually used facetiously).

   an insult to the fair sex.

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fair sex British  

noun

1. women collectively

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fair sex Idioms  

1. Girls or women, as in Many women would object to being called the fair sex nowadays. This euphemism uses fair in the sense of “physically beautiful” and is probably dying out. [Mid-1600s]

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Sensitive Note

This is a dated term, usually used for humorous effect. It uses the word fair in the sense of “physically attractive”; because it refers to a woman in terms of her appearance, it is sometimes perceived as demeaning.

Etymology

Origin of fair sex

First recorded in 1680–90

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

fair sex

The book American and Other Drinks touts the ladies’ blush as a "favourite drink among the fair sex," neglecting to cite its popularity with aspiring hyperglycemics.

From Slate ● Jan. 21, 2013

The oldest and most distinguished was Roger de Beauvoir, whose curly black hair, wonderful waistcoats, and pearl-grey pantaloons made him the delight of the fair sex, and the envy of his fellow-boulevardiers.

From Lola Montez An Adventuress of the 'Forties by Edmund B. d'Auvergne

“You are in a city, my dear lady, where insults to the fair sex never go unpunished.”

From Frank Merriwell's New Comedian The Rise of a Star by Burt L. Standish

The inhabitants were still trembling from apprehension; and upon the slightest motion of the floor, the colour fled from the lips of many of the fair sex, and left them of a pallid white.

From Antigua and the Antiguans, Volume I (of 2) A full account of the colony and its inhabitants from the time of the Caribs to the present day by Anonymous

The tattooing among the Ainu is limited to the fair sex, and it is confined to the head and arms.

From Alone with the Hairy Ainu or, 3,800 miles on a pack saddle in Yezo and a cruise to the Kurile Islands. by A. H. Savage Landor