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.

---

fair sex British  

noun

1. women collectively

---

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]

---

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

My turn for study, literary talent, grave demeanour, and seriousness of character made far less impression on the fair sex than my successes on the stage and the pallone-ground.

From The Memoirs of Count Carlo Gozzi; Volume the First by Carlo Gozzi

The thief did not confine his attentions to the fair sex; but visited us men as well.

From The Honour of Savelli A Romance by S. (Sidney) Levett-Yeats

By which assertion, whatever the world may think, he certainly pays a great compliment to the fair sex.

From The Sylph, Volume I and II by Georgiana Cavendish

I was once a witness of his haughty treatment of a Leipsic pupil of the fair sex, who came to him one day and asked him 'to give her a few lessons.'

From Franz Liszt by James Huneker