feminine
Americanadjective
-
being or relating to to a woman or girl.
feminine beauty;
feminine dress.
-
having qualities traditionally ascribed to women, such as sensitivity or gentleness.
-
effeminate; womanish.
Growing up, he had been told he had a feminine walk.
-
Grammar. noting or pertaining to that one of the three genders of Latin, Greek, German, etc., or one of the two genders of French, Spanish, Hebrew, etc., having among its members most nouns referring to females, as well as other nouns, as Latin stella “star,” or German Zeit “time.”
noun
-
feminines
plural
-
the feminine gender.
-
a noun or other element in or marking the feminine gender.
adjective
-
suitable to or characteristic of a woman
a feminine fashion
-
possessing qualities or characteristics considered typical of or appropriate to a woman
-
effeminate; womanish
-
grammar
-
denoting or belonging to a gender of nouns, occurring in many inflected languages, that includes all kinds of referents as well as some female animate referents
-
( as noun )
German Zeit ``time'' and Ehe ``marriage'' are feminines
-
Synonym Usage
See female.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
-
antifemininenessnoun
-
femininenessnoun
-
hyperfemininenessnoun
-
antifeminineadjective
-
half-feminineadjective
-
hyperfeminineadjective
-
overfeminineadjective
-
pseudofeminineadjective
-
superfeminineadjective
-
ultrafeminineadjective
-
unfeminineadjective
-
antifemininelyadverb
-
femininelyadverb
-
hyperfemininelyadverb
-
overfemininelyadverb
-
unfemininelyadverb
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of feminine
First recorded in 1350–1400; Middle English femynyn(e), from Anglo-French, Old French: feminine of adjective feminin, from Latin fēminīnus, equivalent to fēmin(a) “woman” ( see fetus) + -īnus -ine 1
Explanation
Feminine is the opposite of masculine. If it has anything to do with girls and women, it's considered feminine. Anything feminine is associated with females. In American culture, that includes wearing pink, playing with dolls, sporting high heels, and getting weepy during sad movies. Many women find the traditional feminine roles to be sexist and limiting, while many men pick on each other for acting in a stereotypical feminine manner. But ideas about what is feminine are always changing: pants used to only be a masculine thing to wear, for example.
Vocabulary lists containing feminine
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:
At the time, critics were characterizing O’Keeffe’s flower pictures as feminine; in response, she said, she would create “those dismal-colored paintings like the men.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 7, 2026
She also recalled a conversation with open-fire chef Francis Mallmann, who described fire as feminine.
From Salon ● Sep. 27, 2026
The author demonstrates that access to the supernatural was a particular source of feminine power, not least for the sorceresses whose rituals made that connection.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 14, 2026
Though she initially identified with her male birth name, the more she painted herself in Venus-like, feminine poses and with longer hair, her understanding of her identity shifted.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 4, 2026
As Micah comes bounding up to us, Maddy yanks the zipper closed, hiding all evidence of feminine products.
From "A Place at the Table" by Saadia Faruqi and Laura Shovan
Although made with contemporary means, Hill’s smeary feminines recall the sharper-edged experiments of Cubists and Futurists.
From Washington Post ● Feb. 25, 2016
"There are no feminines or diminutives of those words, my dear."
From Life at High Tide by Henry Mills Alden
Homer's praises of beauty are reserved for the feminines, especially his favourite Helen.
From The Book of the Thousand Nights and a Night — Volume 10 by Sir Richard Francis Burton
You are after results; and if you get them, do not mind the feminines of your household lifting the hands of horror over the unorthodox means.
From The Mountains by Stewart Edward White
The masculines end in -a, the feminines and neuters in -e.
From Anglo-Saxon Grammar and Exercise Book with Inflections, Syntax, Selections for Reading, and Glossary by C. Alphonso (Charles Alphonso) Smith
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.
