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

From chance meetings in the street, from stray conversations overheard, he had been led to take an unreasoning dislike to this foreigner, whose attitude towards the gentle sex struck him as that of a cur.

From South Wind by Douglas, Norman

Oh how little do we know of those rapid lights and shadows which shift and tremble across the spirits of the gentle sex, when approaching to hold this tender communion with those whom they love.

From Jane Sinclair; Or, The Fawn Of Springvale The Works of William Carleton, Volume Two by Carleton, William

He was called an able man, but his foibles were precisely of the sort to create in the large-hearted of the gentle sex an almost masculine antipathy to their spiritual pastor.

From The Vicissitudes of Bessie Fairfax by Lee, Holme, [pseud.]

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

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