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.
It’s not dense, it doesn’t blabber on and it certainly doesn’t reek of masculine self-obsession.
From Salon • Mar. 8, 2026
And that took letting go of whatever this masculine image was that was blocking me.
From Los Angeles Times • Feb. 23, 2026
A German listener can instantly narrow the options, ruling out masculine or neuter singular nouns.
From Science Daily • Feb. 20, 2026
He notes without disparagement that football is conservative and masculine.
From The Wall Street Journal • Feb. 6, 2026
A harsh masculine voice called out “This is the police.”
From "Confessions of a Murder Suspect" by James Patterson
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.
