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womanly

womanly

12 3.4
Being gentle, kind, or strong in ways often seen in women
  • adjective
  • /ˈwʊmənli/
translation icon : femenino
  • Are you doing womanly things down in the woods with those boys?
  • womanly virtue
  • womanly nature

Well, she looks exactly like this except more womanly.

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Examples

  • But she's getting older, more womanly.

  • Dark hair past her shoulders, womanly curves, generous breasts, good muscles, and nice long lashes framing hazel eyes.

    Fiction book (1994)
  • Now, I think she is much more beautiful and womanly, and, like I am, a bit older.

    Fiction book (1998)
  • I have you, and I have being a woman, and I have been thinking about womanly things!

    Fiction book (2001)
  • I married you because you were Kind and gentle and womanly and understanding.

  • It is your womanly duty.

  • Later, she reconceptualized her religious mission as one of becoming a model of womanly virtue.

    Academic text (1994)
  • All wifely solicitude and womanly kindness, with a small dab of maternal pity mixed in.

    Fiction book (1991)
  • Her womanly compassion was evident as she comforted her friend during difficult times.

  • He appreciated her womanly qualities, such as her warmth and understanding nature.

Synonyms

feminine
vswomanly
173 3.4

Having style or qualities people often connect with women

emphasizes mature adults and caring traits like gentleness
ladylike
vswomanly
15 5.0

Polite and calm in the way a woman with good manners acts

highlights caring, gentle aspects rather than polished manners
womanlike
vswomanly
6.7

Having the looks or shape of a woman

focuses on mature adults, stressing gentleness or compassion
ladyish
vswomanly
  • Archaic
7.2

Having neat, polite style and manners like a proper woman

focuses more on gentleness and compassion than propriety

Antonyms

79 3.0

Showing strength, courage, or a strong will often seen as men's qualities

unwomanly
  • Offensive
7.9

Not showing behavior people expect from a woman

How Feminine

motherly
16 2.3
womanly
12 3.4
feminine
173 3.4
girlish
21 3.5

Surface Forms

womanly positive
womanlier comparative
womanliest superlative

Morphology

womanly = woman (transparent) = woman + ly

The adjective is directly formed from 'woman' with the productive adjective-forming suffix '-ly' meaning 'having qualities of a woman', so learners who know 'woman' can infer the meaning.

Etymology

Womanly comes from the noun woman plus the adjective ending -ly, and woman originally meant 'female person' and was linked to an old word for 'wife'. So, womanly means 'like a woman', for example showing gentleness or compassion.