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Glite Dictionary
unwomanly

unwomanly

7.9
Not showing behavior people expect from a woman
  • adjective
  • /ˌʌnˈwʌmənli/
  • Offensive
translation icon : poco femenino (ofensivo)
  • According to the Man of Law, this unwomanly woman must be the "instrument" (II.370) of Christendom's greatest adversary: Satan.
  • unwomanly woman

Examples

  • Significantly, Olive's "marriage" is in no way motivated by an unwomanly desire for fame or wealth.

    Academic text (2007)

  • Her fingers became burning cold, with an unwomanly strength; with one movement, they gripped his whole heart all at once and forever ended its beat.

    Fiction book (1999)

  • "A very strident and unwomanly creature.

    Fiction book (1990)

  • This theory also explains why the Man of Law declares that active, aggressive women are both devilish and unwomanly.

    Fiction book (1994)

  • However, no one in the family, including her father or Norman, can see any good reason for Ethel to continue in such an unwomanly pursuit as Greek.

    Academic text (2007)

  • More than one reviewer posed her success as uncharacteristic of her sex, stating that her work was dynamic and "unwomanly." 60

    Academic text (2013)

  • In contemporary novels, the archetype of the grotesque can be stretched quite far, since today's young women's unwomanly manners are slightly more tolerated than in Jo March's days.

    Academic text (2001)

  • Many people viewed her decision to run for office as unwomanly and against traditional gender roles.

  • Despite being told it was unwomanly, she pursued her passion for engineering with great determination.

  • He mistakenly thought her assertive behavior was unwomanly, not realizing it was simply confidence.

Synonyms

unladylike
vsunwomanly
  • Offensive
3 6.3

Behaving in a way people think is not polite for a woman

covers lack of traditional female qualities beyond mere refinement
unfeminine
vsunwomanly
2 6.7

Not having qualities people often expect in women

is the same idea expressed with a different word form
unfeminist
vsunwomanly
8.4

Not acting in the way many people expect women to act

emphasizes appropriateness to women rather than general social norms
uncomely
vsunwomanly
  • Archaic
9.6

Not proper in dress or behavior in polite company

is focused on gendered suitability not general social propriety

Antonyms

feminine
173 3.4

Having style or qualities people often connect with women

womanly
12 3.4

Being gentle, kind, or strong in ways often seen in women

How Womanly

feminine
173 3.4
androgynous
  • Specialized
1 8.4
unwomanly
  • Offensive
7.9
masculine
85 3.7

Surface Forms

unwomanly positive

Morphology

unwomanly = womanly (transparent) = un + woman + ly

Formed by adding the productive negative prefix 'un-' to the adjective 'womanly', so the meaning 'not characteristic of a woman' is directly derivable.

Etymology

Unwomanly is made from un- ('not'), the word woman, and the ending -ly that makes an adjective. So it literally means 'not like a woman' and was used to describe behaviour people once saw as not proper for women.