ladylike
Americanadjective
-
like a lady.
- Synonyms:
- courteous, well-mannered, well-bred
-
befitting a lady.
in a ladylike manner.
- Synonyms:
- courteous, well-mannered, well-bred
adjective
-
like or befitting a lady in manners and bearing; refined and fastidious
-
derogatory (of a man) effeminate
Other Word Forms
- ladylikeness noun
- unladylike adjective
Etymology
Origin of ladylike
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.
Her mother, Anne, was a stickler for “pure” and ladylike behavior, which cramped Alice’s imagination.
From Los Angeles Times • May 14, 2024
"I was raised to be very ladylike and considerate of others, and respectable. My mother definitely would have liked me to go into more a feminine field," she says.
From BBC • May 17, 2023
And while most of us will want to tell ourselves that murderers are different from the rest of us, a woman like Montgomery — so personable, so ladylike — thwarts that disidentification.
From New York Times • Apr. 26, 2023
I was raised in a strict Irish Catholic family, my upbringing almost Victorian, with a focus on being ladylike at all times.
From Washington Post • Dec. 11, 2020
“Why is that?” she queried in her ladylike voice.
From "Three Little Words: A Memoir" by Ashley Rhodes-Courter
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.
