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limp-wristed

American  
[limp-ris-tid] / ˈlɪmpˌrɪs tɪd /

adjective

  1. Slang: Disparaging and Offensive. (especially of a gay man) effeminate.

  2. soft; flabby; ineffectual.

limp-wristed British  

adjective

  1. ineffectual; effete

"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

Etymology

Origin of limp-wristed

First recorded in 1955–60; limp 2 + wrist + -ed 3

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.

“There was even this period ‘the pansy craze’ where it was fashionable to have limp-wristed men in movies who may have been gay or trans or entirely outside that in movies.”

From The Guardian • Feb. 27, 2019

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.