feminine
Americanadjective
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being or relating to to a woman or girl.
feminine beauty;
feminine dress.
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having qualities traditionally ascribed to women, such as sensitivity or gentleness.
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effeminate; womanish.
Growing up, he had been told he had a feminine walk.
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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
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feminines
plural
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the feminine gender.
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a noun or other element in or marking the feminine gender.
adjective
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suitable to or characteristic of a woman
a feminine fashion
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possessing qualities or characteristics considered typical of or appropriate to a woman
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effeminate; womanish
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grammar
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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
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( as noun )
German Zeit ``time'' and Ehe ``marriage'' are feminines
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Synonym Usage
See female.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
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antifemininenessnoun
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femininenessnoun
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hyperfemininenessnoun
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antifeminineadjective
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half-feminineadjective
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hyperfeminineadjective
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overfeminineadjective
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pseudofeminineadjective
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superfeminineadjective
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ultrafeminineadjective
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unfeminineadjective
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antifemininelyadverb
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femininelyadverb
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hyperfemininelyadverb
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overfemininelyadverb
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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:
Early plays Maddie’s lowest moments with raw sincerity and expressions of utter helplessness — visible cries for help, acted out with total concern and love for the feminine.
From Salon ● Aug. 8, 2026
This idea proposes that the evolution of larger human brains occurred alongside changes that made the human skeleton less robust and more physically feminine compared with those of earlier ancestors.
From Science Daily ● Jul. 17, 2026
It seems that when it comes to their perception in the workplace, Ms. O’Connell says, women can’t win: They’re criticized both for being too feminine and too masculine.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 8, 2026
Anyone who's listened to Rodrigo's first two albums, 2021's Sour and 2023's Guts, knows the singer has endured a few calamitous heartbreaks, approaching them with a mix of anguish, confusion and feminine rage.
From BBC ● Jun. 10, 2026
“What do you mean? It’s like in Spanish, how all words are feminine or masculine.”
From "Sir Fig Newton and the Science of Persistence" by Sonja Thomas
Although made with contemporary means, Hill’s smeary feminines recall the sharper-edged experiments of Cubists and Futurists.
From Washington Post ● Feb. 25, 2016
Gender is indicated except in the case of masculine nouns ending in '-o' and feminines ending in '-a.'
From The German Element in Brazil Colonies and Dialect by Benjamin Franklin Schappelle
How you two feminines must have suffered—one from hopeless love— and the other from helpless sympathy.
From Further Adventures of Quincy Adams Sawyer and Mason Corner Folks by Charles Felton Pidgin
The nouns belonging here are chiefly masculines and feminines.
From Anglo-Saxon Grammar and Exercise Book with Inflections, Syntax, Selections for Reading, and Glossary by C. Alphonso (Charles Alphonso) Smith
Getting clear, at length, of this crowd of feminines, "presto" was the word, and away we bowled along one of the most beautiful roads I have ever seen.
From Kathay: A Cruise in the China Seas by W. Hastings Macaulay
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.
