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Definition of Effeminate
1. Adjective. Having unsuitable feminine qualities.
Similar to: Unmanful, Unmanlike, Unmanly
Derivative terms: Effeminateness, Sissiness
Definition of Effeminate
1. a. Having some characteristic of a woman, as delicacy, luxuriousness, etc.; soft or delicate to an unmanly degree; womanish; weak.
2. v. t. To make womanish; to make soft and delicate; to weaken.
3. v. i. To grow womanish or weak.
Definition of Effeminate
1. Adjective. (context: of a man or boy) Having behaviour or mannerisms considered unmasculine or typical of a woman or girl; feminine. ¹
2. Verb. (archaic) To make womanly; to unman. ¹
¹ Source: wiktionary.com
Definition of Effeminate
1. [n -S]
Medical Definition of Effeminate
1. 1. Having some characteristic of a woman, as delicacy, luxuriousness, etc.; soft or delicate to an unmanly degree; womanish; weak. "The king, by his voluptuous life and mean marriage, became effeminate, and less sensible of honor." (Bacon) "An effeminate and unmanly foppery." (Bp. Hurd) 2. Womanlike; womanly; tender; in a good sense. "Gentle, kind, effeminate remorse." (Shak) Effeminate and womanish are generally used in a reproachful sense; feminine and womanly, applied to women, are epithets of propriety or commendation. Origin: L. Effeminatus, p. P. Of effeminare to make a woman of; ex out + femina a woman. See Feminine. To make womanish; to make soft and delicate; to weaken. "It will not corrupt or effeminate children's minds." (Locke) Origin: Effeminated; Effeminating. To grow womanish or weak. "In a slothful peace both courage will effeminate and manners corrupt." (Pope) Source: Websters Dictionary (01 Mar 1998)
Lexicographical Neighbors of Effeminate
Literary usage of Effeminate
Below you will find example usage of this term as found in modern and/or classical literature:
1. The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire by Edward Gibbon, John Bagnell Bury (1897)
"... after having long experienced the stern tyranny of their own countrymen, Rome
was at length humbled beneath the effeminate luxury of Oriental despotism. ..."
2. The Living Age by Making of America Project, Eliakim Littell, Robert S. Littell (1868)
"... the atheistic author of one of the l though not of effeminate character ;
espe- cially a novelist should have the delicate perception, the sensibility ..."
3. Art and Artists. by Rosswell William Haskins (1851)
"... all these to the unmeaning and effeminate pretty: a conception fully applicable
to the figures upon a dress, or a carpet. Such toys—for they are not ..."
Other Resources:
Welsh