womanish

English [edit]

From woman +‎ -ish.

womanish (comparative more womanish, superlative most womanish)

(often pejorative) Characteristic of a woman; feminine; effeminate. [from 14th c.]
- 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. [from 14th c.]
- 1590, Edmund Spenser, The Faerie Queene, III.7:
  
  And gan recomfort her in her rude wyse, / With womanish compassion of her plaint, / Wiping the teares from her suffused eyes [...].

characteristic of a woman