feminine

[ fem-uh-nin ]
See synonyms for: femininefemininesfeminineness on Thesaurus.com

adjective
  1. being or relating to to a woman or girl: feminine beauty;feminine dress.

  2. having qualities traditionally ascribed to women, such as sensitivity or gentleness.

  1. effeminate; womanish: Growing up, he had been told he had a feminine walk.

  2. 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.”

nounGrammar.
  1. the feminine gender.

  2. a noun or other element in or marking the feminine gender.

Origin of feminine

1
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 -ine1

synonym study For feminine

2. See female.

Other words from feminine

  • fem·i·nine·ly, adverb
  • fem·i·nine·ness, noun
  • an·ti·fem·i·nine, adjective
  • an·ti·fem·i·nine·ly, adverb
  • an·ti·fem·i·nine·ness, noun
  • half-fem·i·nine, adjective
  • hy·per·fem·i·nine, adjective
  • hy·per·fem·i·nine·ly, adverb
  • hy·per·fem·i·nine·ness, noun
  • o·ver·fem·i·nine, adjective
  • o·ver·fem·i·nine·ly, adverb
  • pseu·do·fem·i·nine, adjective
  • su·per·fem·i·nine, adjective
  • ul·tra·fem·i·nine, adjective
  • un·fem·i·nine, adjective
  • un·fem·i·nine·ly, adverb

Words that may be confused with feminine

Words Nearby feminine

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use feminine in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for feminine

feminine

/ (ˈfɛmɪnɪn) /


adjective
  1. suitable to or characteristic of a woman: a feminine fashion

  2. possessing qualities or characteristics considered typical of or appropriate to a woman

  1. effeminate; womanish

  2. 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

Origin of feminine

1
C14: from Latin fēminīnus, from fēmina woman

Derived forms of feminine

  • femininely, adverb
  • feminineness, noun

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012