feminize
Americanverb (used with or without object)
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feminizes,
present (3rd person singular)
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feminized,
past participle, past
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feminizing
present participle
verb
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to make or become feminine
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to cause (a male animal) to develop female characteristics
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
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defeminizationnoun
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feminizationnoun
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overfeminizeverb
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defeminizeverb (used with object)
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unfeminizeverb (used with object)
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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feminizesimple
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feminizessimple
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have feminizedperfect
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has feminizedperfect
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am feminizingprogressive
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are feminizingprogressive
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is feminizingprogressive
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have been feminizingperfect progressive
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has been feminizingperfect progressive
Past
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feminizedsimple
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had feminizedperfect
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was feminizingprogressive
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were feminizingprogressive
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had been feminizingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of feminize
1645–55; < Latin fēmin ( a ) woman + -ize
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:
I used to say with my “Atmospheres” that my intention was to soften and feminize the environment.
From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 18, 2021
The two discussed Kamala Harris’ historic vice presidential campaign and America’s tendency to feminize candidates for political office.
From Slate ● Sep. 16, 2020
Being a big-boned gal with broad shoulders, I knew a fuller bust line would detract from that and feminize my appearance even more.
From Salon ● Sep. 1, 2018
“To feminize politics, to me, implies to have more coöperative ways of working that actually allow you to combine professional and private life,” Colau said.
From The New Yorker ● Aug. 6, 2018
Other research groups had seen evidence that atrazine can demasculinize — and in some instances feminize — exposed animals.
From Washington Post ● Mar. 2, 2010
Designers Domenico Dolce and Stefano Gabbana feminized the menswear silhouettes this season, with tailoring tricks long deployed for women.
From Seattle Times ● Jun. 17, 2023
In Chinese culture, bunnies are often feminized, associated with the Jade Rabbit that lives with the moon goddess and symbolizes selflessness, piety and sacrifice.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jan. 18, 2023
“She made the medium her own in a way I don’t think anyone had done. She feminized it and made it seductive — restaurant reviews had been so dry,” Reichl said.
From Washington Post ● Nov. 1, 2022
The response essay, written by Dorothy R. Santos, an expert on voice recognition, explores the cultural baggage behind our obsession with feminized A.I.
From Slate ● Oct. 29, 2022
It was a tiny girl child, black of hue as both her doting parents, and endowed with the name of her sire, somewhat feminized for her fitting into the rather euphonious Pompeylou.
From Moriah's Mourning and Other Half-Hour Sketches by Ruth McEnery Stuart
“It normalizes the experience without necessarily feminizing it.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 12, 2026
Instrumental in feminizing the occupation, Beecher argued that pious young women should be the ones to do the moral work of teaching — in no small part because they provided cheap labor.
From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 12, 2024
"Determining which specific compounds can change the hatchling sex ratios is important for developing strategies to prevent pollutants from further feminizing sea turtle populations," Dr van de Merwe added.
From Science Daily ● Nov. 13, 2023
Women who are transgender and take feminizing hormones can also have dense breasts, which may increase their chances of developing breast cancer somewhat.
From Scientific American ● Apr. 10, 2023
The ability to marry and pass as a normal woman in society are also important goals, both of which will not be possible without feminizing surgery and hormone treatment.
From "Middlesex: A Novel" by Jeffrey Eugenides
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.
