virility
[vuh-ril-i-tee]
- the state or quality of being virile; manly character, vigor, or spirit; masculinity.
- the power of procreation.
Show More
Origin of virility
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Related Words
vigor, manhood, potency, strength, manliness, power, machismo, macho, muscularity, maleness, ruggedness, forcefulExamples from the Web for virility
Contemporary Examples
The reason, Foster argues, is that impotence implies a lack of virility, a lack of manliness.
Predictably then, if oddly too, this man's very existence had become a test of Indian virility.
It is the cornea—the last redoubt of virility and independence.
None of this feared Republican virility is any more real than the charge that the GOP manufactured the Turfers.
Historical Examples
The virility of a country is worth more than the splendor of its monuments.
Latin America and the United StatesElihu Root
A man who has been through hell does not boast of his virility.
Howards EndE. M. Forster
That all this virility and nubility and glamor is pure coincidence?
Masters of SpaceEdward Elmer Smith
And on his own merits the virility and good looks of him drew her admiration.
The HighgraderWilliam MacLeod Raine
The standard of virility is unquestionably an individual problem.
The Eugenic Marriage, Vol 2 (of 4)W. Grant Hague
Word Origin and History for virility
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
virility
(və-rĭl′ĭ-tē)- The quality or state of being virile.
- Masculine vigor; potency.
Show More
The American Heritage® Stedman's Medical Dictionary
Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.