gentle sex

American  

Or gentler sex

noun

Older Use: Sometimes Offensive.

1. women in general (usually used facetiously).

   courtesy toward the gentle sex.

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Sensitive Note

This is a dated term, usually used for humorous effect but sometimes perceived as condescending to women. It makes reference to a stereotype of women’s basic nature, namely that women are gentle in comparison to men.

Etymology

Origin of gentle sex

First recorded in 1575–85

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

gentle sex

Yes; and I fancy that melancholy air assists him very much in vanquishing the gentle sex.

From The International Magazine, Volume 2, No. 2, January, 1851 by Various

Christina was gone, and the gentle sex was no longer represented in the monastery of Trooditissa.

From Cyprus, as I Saw It in 1879 by Baker, Samuel White, Sir

In writing of authors of the gentle sex, his ink-pot became a pot of honey.

From The Dreamer A Romantic Rendering of the Life-Story of Edgar Allan Poe by Stanard, Mary Newton

I fill this cup to one made up Of loveliness alone,— A woman, of her gentle sex The seeming paragon.

From The Golden Treasury of American Songs and Lyrics by Knowles, Frederic Lawrence

My fellow-voyagers were mostly French, some of them of the gentle sex, and chattered like pies until they fell asleep.

From Romantic Spain A Record of Personal Experiences (Vol. II) by O'Shea, John Augustus