masculine
Americanadjective
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pertaining to or characteristic of a man or men.
masculine attire.
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having qualities traditionally ascribed to men, as strength and boldness.
- Synonyms:
- manly
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Grammar. noting or pertaining to the gender of Latin, Greek, German, French, Spanish, Hebrew, etc., which has among its members most nouns referring to males, as well as other nouns, as Spanish dedo, “finger,” German Bleistift, “pencil.”
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(of a woman) mannish.
noun
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the masculine gender.
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a noun or other element in or marking that gender.
adjective
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possessing qualities or characteristics considered typical of or appropriate to a man; manly
-
unwomanly
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grammar
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denoting a gender of nouns, occurring in many inflected languages, that includes all kinds of referents as well as some male animate referents
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( as noun )
German ``Weg'' is a masculine
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Related Words
See male.
Other Word Forms
- hypermasculine adjective
- hypermasculinely adverb
- hypermasculineness noun
- hypermasculinity noun
- masculinely adverb
- masculineness noun
- masculinity noun
- nonmasculine adjective
- nonmasculinely adverb
- nonmasculineness noun
- nonmasculinity noun
- pseudomasculine adjective
- supermasculine adjective
- supermasculinity noun
- ultramasculine adjective
- unmasculine adjective
- unmasculinely adverb
Etymology
Origin of masculine
First recorded in 1300–50; Middle English masculin, from Latin masculīnus, equivalent to mascul(us) “male” ( mās “male” + -culus -cule 1 ) + -īnus -ine 1
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.
The most masculine thing you can do is face your highs and lows head on and own them.
From Los Angeles Times
A German listener can instantly narrow the options, ruling out masculine or neuter singular nouns.
From Science Daily
Instead, authors turned out a lot of flat, declarative prose; clipped, “masculine” dialogue; and a form of realism bound to personal experience.
He notes without disparagement that football is conservative and masculine.
And it questioned how the group's argument would apply to trans men - who were born biologically female - noting that the Supreme Court had said those of masculine appearance could still be excluded from female facilities.
From BBC
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.
