Standard Lemma guide

womanish

adj · verb · 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.

  • UK: /ˈwʊmənɪʃ/
  • Southern-England: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.

1

adj

Meaning 1

Characteristic of a woman; effeminate, feminine.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: derogatory, often

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

2

adj

Meaning 2

Carried out by or pertaining to a woman.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

3

verb

Meaning 3

To make womanish.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: obsolete, rare

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: effeminate, femalize, femininize, feminize, woman, womanize

Antonyms: none provided

4

adjective satellite

Meaning 4

having characteristics associated with women and considered undesirable in men

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

Examples

  • womanish tears

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

History

Etymology

From Middle English wommanyssh. Equivalent to woman + -ish. The verb is from the adjective.

Across languages

Translations

15 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Armenian: կանացի (kanacʻi) — characteristic of a woman
  • Bulgarian: женски (ženski) — characteristic of a woman
  • Finnish: naismainen — characteristic of a woman
  • Greek: γυναικείος (gynaikeíos) — characteristic of a woman
  • Ancient Greek: γυναικώδης (gunaikṓdēs) — characteristic of a woman
  • Hindi: स्त्रैण (straiṇ) — characteristic of a woman
  • Hungarian: nőies — characteristic of a woman
  • Irish: banda — characteristic of a woman
  • Middle Irish: banamail — characteristic of a woman
  • Korean: 여자 같은 (yeoja gateun) — characteristic of a woman
  • Norwegian: kvinnelig — characteristic of a woman
  • Russian: ба́бий (bábij) — characteristic of a woman
  • Russian: женоподо́бный (ženopodóbnyj) — characteristic of a woman
  • Spanish: afeminado — characteristic of a woman
  • Turkish: kadınsı — characteristic of a woman