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womanish. In DICTIOUS you will not only get to know all the dictionary meanings for the word
womanish, but we will also tell you about its etymology, its characteristics and you will know how to say
womanish in singular and plural. Everything you need to know about the word
womanish you have here. The definition of the word
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English
Alternative forms
Etymology
From Middle English wommanyssh. Equivalent to woman + -ish.
Pronunciation
Adjective
womanish (comparative more womanish, superlative most womanish)
- (often derogatory) Characteristic of a woman; effeminate, feminine.
1599 (first performance), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Iulius Cæsar”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies (First Folio), London: Isaac Iaggard, and Ed Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, , page 113, column 1:[…] Romans novv / Haue Thevves, and Limbes, like to their Anceſtors; / But vvoe the vvhile, our Fathers mindes are dead, / And vve are gouern'd vvith our Mothers ſpirits, / Our yoake, and ſufferance, ſhevv vs VVomaniſh.
1817 (date written), Jane Austen, chapter 12, in R[aymond] W[ilson] Chambers, editor, Fragment of a Novel Written by Jane Austen, January–March 1817 , Oxford, Oxfordshire: Clarendon Press, published 1925, →OCLC, pages 167–168:The Fence was a proper Park paling in excellent condition; with clusters of fine Elms, or rows of old Thorns following its line almost every where.—Almost must be stipulated—for there were vacant spaces & through one of these, Charlotte as soon as they entered the Enclosure, caught a glimpse over the pales of something White & Womanish in the field on the other side;—it was a something which immediately brought Miss B. into her head—& stepping to the pales, she saw indeed—& very decidedly, in spite of the Mist; Miss B—seated, not far before her, at the foot of the bank which sloped down from the outside of the Paling & which a narrow Path seemed to skirt along;—Miss Brereton seated, apparently very composedly—& Sir E. D. by her side.
1946, Bertrand Russell, History of Western Philosophy, I.20:Friends are a comfort in misfortune, but one should not make them unhappy by seeking their sympathy, as is done by women and womanish men.
- 1982, Lawrence Durrell, Constance, Faber & Faber 2004 (Avignon Quintet), p. 753:
- Perhaps he did too, for he turned scarlet and turned his face away to the wall, with a womanish gesture of shyness.
- Carried out by or pertaining to a woman.
Related terms
Translations
characteristic of a woman
See also