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girlie

American  
[gur-lee] / ˈgɜr li /
Or girly

adjective

girlier, girliest
  1. featuring nude or scantily clad young women: girlie magazines.

    a girlie show;

    girlie magazines.

  2. Usually Disparaging and Offensive. of, characteristic of, or befitting girls or young women; feminine in a traditional way.

    a girlie girl who likes everything sparkly and pink;

    high-pitched girlie voices.

  3. Usually Disparaging and Offensive. (especially of a man) effeminate or timid.


noun

  • girlies
    plural
  1. Disparaging and Offensive. a term of address used for a girl or woman.

  2. Older Use. a girl, especially a young girl.

    cute little girlies.

girlie British  
/ ˈɡɜːlɪ /

noun

  1. a little girl

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

adjective

  1. displaying or featuring nude or scantily dressed women

    a girlie magazine

  2. suited to or designed to appeal to young women

    a girlie night out

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms


Etymology

Origin of girlie

First recorded in 1940–45; girl + -ie


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:

Though their obsessions with moisturizers and eyebrow grooming seem pretty girlie to someone of my generation, looksmaxxing is rooted in objectification.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 5, 2026

"I don't think stereotypes like that have ever bothered me. I've never worried about sticking to particularly girlie things," Cleaver said.

From BBC ● Mar. 8, 2026

And even if you’re not a "BookTok girlie," as the online community often calls itself, chances are you recognize some of the titles and authors on display.

From Salon ● Feb. 4, 2025

I wanted to look like I was going to school, but also cute and girlie.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 12, 2024

“I spent all that time hunting you down, girlie, when I should have just waited here!”

From "Half Upon a Time" by James Riley

On social media, I’m seeing posts like “low ferritin girlies unite” or “supplements that got my ferritin up” or “my ferritin is at a 9.”

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 23, 2026

And on TikTok, all the girlies are having a “Practical Magic” autumn, posting fancams, outfit inspirations and indulging in the Owens’ famous midnight margarita tradition.

From Salon ● Sep. 14, 2026

The band told BBC Radio Surrey: "We are all theatre girlies and we are not going to shy away from putting on a show."

From BBC ● May 17, 2025

Sometimes I will play a pop girlies playlist on my Spotify that helps me forget my depression or despair with the world.

From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 14, 2025

"Take off your hats, girlies, while I see to dinner, for you know the necessity, Molly, of looking after things yourself up this way."

From Three Little Cousins by Amy Ella Blanchard

I happened to also be a complete tomboy who wasn't interested in girlier things until much later in life.

From Salon ● Apr. 6, 2021

In our world, Hillary’s forceful participation in that interview saved Bill’s career; in Sittenfeld’s novel, his girlier wife crumbles on the air, and so do his political prospects.

From Slate ● May 9, 2020

Otherwise the magazine could turn out to be, as New York suggested, “a girlier version of Vanity Fair”— which is a bad thing for Condé Nast.

From New York Times ● Aug. 13, 2010

Kimber—the flightiest, girliest Hologram, with the longest, most labor-intensive hair—only dates girls; nobody thinks that’s a problem, nor does anybody think it odd that she falls for someone with Stormer’s body type.

From The New Yorker ● Nov. 19, 2015

My older sister is the girliest girl on the planet, so I just hated everything about that.

From Forbes ● Nov. 21, 2012

Douglas, a bearded bear of a man, ordered a venti double-chocolate-chip Frappuccino — “the girliest drink ever,” he called it — and then sat down to discuss the future of the growing survivalist industry.

From New York Times ● Nov. 18, 2012

I think I was wishing it so hard, I actually imagined it, which was the girliest thing I’ve probably ever done in my life.

From "Winger" by Andrew Smith

It was the very girliest of girl's rooms and the windows overlooked the lake.

From The Cinder Pond by Carroll Watson Rankin

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