womanizer

American  

[woom-uh-nahy-zer] / ˈwʊm əˌnaɪ zər /

especially British, womaniser

noun

1. a philanderer.

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Etymology

Origin of womanizer

First recorded in 1920–25; womanize + -er ¹

Explanation

If you've ever known a man who can't keep his eyes off every single woman who walks by, you can call him a womanizer — especially if he's constantly handing out his phone number. A womanizer is a man who always seems to have a new girlfriend, and who has no hesitation about starting up a new relationship before he's ended the last one. Usually, these relationships are sexual and don't last long. The noun womanizer comes from the verb womanize, which originally meant "to make effeminate." By the late 1800s, the meaning shifted to mean "to chase women."

Example Sentences

Tucker points to White’s knack for finding sympathetic qualities in even the most potentially loathsome characters, such as Jake Lacy’s callow newlywed in Season 1, or Theo James’ lying womanizer in Season 2.

From Los Angeles Times • Aug. 11, 2023

It feels like an amusingly counterintuitive rendering of the famously macho womanizer, until we recall that Berlusconi was a cruise ship crooner in the 1960s; in Torkia’s rendering, he still is.

From New York Times • Apr. 4, 2023

Don Draper was as charming as the ads he wrote, but he was a chronic womanizer, a lousy dad and a subpar boss.

From Washington Post • Aug. 13, 2021

Suppose, 50 years hence, the consensus of the moment is that Martin Luther King Jr. was a womanizer and a misogynist?

From Washington Times • Sep. 30, 2020

Bobby then played one of the most colorful Yugoslavian masters, Dragoljub Janosevic, a heavy drinker, womanizer, and poker player, and more of a Damon Runyon character than a stereotypical chess player.

From "Endgame" by Frank Brady