Standard Lemma guide

manliness

noun · 4 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.

  • /ˈmænlɪnəs/
  • US: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.

1

noun

Meaning 1

The quality of being manly; the set of qualities, traits and abilities considered appropriate to men (as opposed to women or children); similarity to a man.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: uncountable, usually

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: virility, masculinity, manfulness, mannishness, maleness

Antonyms: unmanliness, womanliness

2

noun

Meaning 2

Male genitals.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: euphemistic, rare, uncountable, usually

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: manhood

Antonyms: none provided

3

noun

Meaning 3

Humanity, the quality of being human.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: rare, uncountable, usually

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

4

noun

Meaning 4

the trait of being manly; having the characteristics of an adult male

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: manfulness, virility

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: masculinity

History

Etymology

From Middle English manlynes, manlynesse. By surface analysis, manly + -ness.

Across languages

Translations

56 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Azerbaijani: erkeklik — set of qualities, traits and abilities considered appropriate to men
  • Bengali: মরদামি (mordami) — set of qualities, traits and abilities considered appropriate to men
  • Bengali: পুরুষত্ব (puruśotto) — set of qualities, traits and abilities considered appropriate to men
  • Catalan: homenia — set of qualities, traits and abilities considered appropriate to men
  • Catalan: virilitat — set of qualities, traits and abilities considered appropriate to men
  • Dutch: mannelijkheid — set of qualities, traits and abilities considered appropriate to men
  • Esperanto: maskleco — set of qualities, traits and abilities considered appropriate to men
  • Esperanto: vireco — set of qualities, traits and abilities considered appropriate to men
  • Finnish: miehekkyys — set of qualities, traits and abilities considered appropriate to men
  • Finnish: miehisyys — set of qualities, traits and abilities considered appropriate to men
  • Finnish: miehuus — set of qualities, traits and abilities considered appropriate to men
  • Finnish: miehuullisuus — set of qualities, traits and abilities considered appropriate to men
  • French: masculinité — set of qualities, traits and abilities considered appropriate to men
  • French: virilité — set of qualities, traits and abilities considered appropriate to men
  • Georgian: კაცურობა (ḳacuroba) — set of qualities, traits and abilities considered appropriate to men
  • Georgian: მამაკაცურობა (mamaḳacuroba) — set of qualities, traits and abilities considered appropriate to men
  • German: Männlichkeit — set of qualities, traits and abilities considered appropriate to men
  • German: Mannhaftigkeit — set of qualities, traits and abilities considered appropriate to men
  • Greek: ανδροπρέπεια (androprépeia) — set of qualities, traits and abilities considered appropriate to men
  • Ancient Greek: ἀγηνορία (agēnoría) — set of qualities, traits and abilities considered appropriate to men
  • Ancient Greek: ἀνδροπρέπεια (androprépeia) — set of qualities, traits and abilities considered appropriate to men
  • Hindi: मर्दानगी (mardāngī) — set of qualities, traits and abilities considered appropriate to men
  • Hungarian: férfiasság — set of qualities, traits and abilities considered appropriate to men
  • Indonesian: kejantanan — set of qualities, traits and abilities considered appropriate to men
  • Irish: fearúlacht — set of qualities, traits and abilities considered appropriate to men
  • Italian: virilità — set of qualities, traits and abilities considered appropriate to men
  • Italian: mascolinità — set of qualities, traits and abilities considered appropriate to men
  • Central Kurdish: پیاوەتی (pyawetî) — set of qualities, traits and abilities considered appropriate to men
  • Latin: virtus — set of qualities, traits and abilities considered appropriate to men
  • Latin: animus virilis — set of qualities, traits and abilities considered appropriate to men
  • Macedonian: маже́ственост (mažéstvenost) — set of qualities, traits and abilities considered appropriate to men
  • Māori: tānetanga — set of qualities, traits and abilities considered appropriate to men
  • Pashto: نارينتوب (nârintób) — set of qualities, traits and abilities considered appropriate to men
  • Persian: مردانگی (mardânegi) — set of qualities, traits and abilities considered appropriate to men
  • Portuguese: virilidade — set of qualities, traits and abilities considered appropriate to men
  • Portuguese: hombridade — set of qualities, traits and abilities considered appropriate to men
  • Romanian: virilitate — set of qualities, traits and abilities considered appropriate to men
  • Russian: му́жественность (múžestvennostʹ) — set of qualities, traits and abilities considered appropriate to men
  • Scottish Gaelic: duinealas — set of qualities, traits and abilities considered appropriate to men
  • Scottish Gaelic: fearachas — set of qualities, traits and abilities considered appropriate to men
  • Scottish Gaelic: fearalachd — set of qualities, traits and abilities considered appropriate to men
  • Scottish Gaelic: misneachd — set of qualities, traits and abilities considered appropriate to men
  • Scottish Gaelic: tapachd — set of qualities, traits and abilities considered appropriate to men
  • Serbo-Croatian: muževnost — set of qualities, traits and abilities considered appropriate to men
  • Slovak: mužnosť — set of qualities, traits and abilities considered appropriate to men
  • Spanish: hombría — set of qualities, traits and abilities considered appropriate to men
  • Spanish: virilidad — set of qualities, traits and abilities considered appropriate to men
  • Spanish: varonilidad — set of qualities, traits and abilities considered appropriate to men
  • Swedish: manlighet — set of qualities, traits and abilities considered appropriate to men
  • Thai: ความเป็นลูกผู้ชาย — set of qualities, traits and abilities considered appropriate to men
  • Turkish: erkeklik — set of qualities, traits and abilities considered appropriate to men
  • Urdu: مردانگی (mardāngī) — set of qualities, traits and abilities considered appropriate to men
  • Zulu: ubudoda — set of qualities, traits and abilities considered appropriate to men
  • Finnish: miehuus — male genitals
  • Hungarian: férfiasság — male genitals
  • Slovak: mužnosť — male genitals