womanish

[ woo m-uh-nish ]

/ ˈwʊm ə nɪʃ /

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR womanish ON THESAURUS.COM

adjective

womanlike or feminine.

weakly feminine; effeminate.

RELATED WORDS

effeminate, female, womanly

Nearby words

woman-hour, woman-to-woman, woman-year, womanfully, womanhood, womanish, womanist, womanize, womanizer, womankind, womanlike

Origin of womanish

Middle English word dating back to 1325–75; see origin at woman, -ish¹

SYNONYMS FOR womanish

2 See womanly.

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR womanish ON THESAURUS.COM

Related forms

wom·an·ish·ly, adverbwom·an·ish·ness, nounun·wom·an·ish, adjective

Can be confused

effeminate effete feminine womanish womanly (see synonym study at womanly)

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

Examples from the Web for womanish

One of my men whom I knew for a womanish fellow, asked if he should put his bayonet through him.
5 War Books You May Not Have in Your Library|Jake Tapper|November 11, 2013|DAILY BEAST
Maskull was unaware of any rise in temperature, but he felt his heart melting to womanish softness.
A Voyage to Arcturus|David Lindsay
Otherwise, this third Neuter-gender—mannish women and womanish men—could not have come into being.
Feminism and Sex-Extinction|Arabella Kenealy
Why, the thing is easy so thou rest true to thyself, and let no womanish fears creep into thy heart.
Cleopatra|H. Rider Haggard

It would have been a womanish kind of thing to fling-to the door behind him.
When a Man's Single|J. M. Barrie
You soon learn to pity, and soon to love, her for the sake of her gentle and womanish ways.
Eothen|A. W. Kinglake

British Dictionary definitions for womanish

womanish

/ (ˈwʊmənɪʃ) /

adjective

having qualities or characteristics regarded as unsuitable to a strong character of either sex, esp a man

characteristic of or suitable for a woman

Derived Forms

womanishly, adverbwomanishness, noun

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