virility

[ vuh-ril-i-tee ]

/ vəˈrɪl ɪ ti /

the state or quality of being virile; manly character, vigor, or spirit; masculinity.

the power of procreation.

Nearby words

1580–90; < Latin virīlitās, equivalent to virīli(s) virile + -tās -ty²

Related formsnon·vi·ril·i·ty, nounul·tra·vi·ril·i·ty, noun

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

The reason, Foster argues, is that impotence implies a lack of virility, a lack of manliness.
What the Sex Lives of the Founding Fathers Reveal About Us|Eric Herschthal|February 21, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Predictably then, if oddly too, this man's very existence had become a test of Indian virility.
India’s Twisted Conscience on Terrorism|Dilip D’Souza|February 16, 2013|DAILY BEAST
It is the cornea—the last redoubt of virility and independence.
Found: Rand Paul's Secret Papers|Kent Sepkowitz|June 21, 2010|DAILY BEAST
None of this feared Republican virility is any more real than the charge that the GOP manufactured the Turfers.
The GOP Freak Show|John Batchelor|August 7, 2009|DAILY BEAST

The boy's character was a compound of sensibility and hard rebelliousness, virility and introspection.
The Red and the Black|Stendhal
That all this virility and nubility and glamor is pure coincidence?
Masters of Space|Edward Elmer Smith
He was a tawny giant, exuding a force and virility and a compelling magnetism that gripped one instantly.
Square Deal Sanderson|Charles Alden Seltzer
He knew her level, penetrating glance, but she had a virility he had not expected.
The Girl From Keller's|Harold Bindloss
Her every step was a dance, her every word and gesture full of a grace and virility that filled the old folks with uneasy wonder.
Lucy Maud Montgomery Short Stories, 1905 to 1906|Lucy Maud Montgomery