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

Oh! by the mildness of thy gentle sex, Attend my prayer.

From Maid of Orleans by Schiller, Friedrich

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

In this, however, we were not singular, as nine in ten of the audience that night, I mean nine in ten of the gentle sex, went to the theatre on foot.

From Satanstoe by Cooper, James Fenimore

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

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