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FEMININE
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I. (noun)
Sense 1
Meaning:
A gender that refers chiefly (but not exclusively) to females or to objects classified as female
Classified under:
Nouns denoting communicative processes and contents
Hypernyms ("feminine" is a kind of...):
gender; grammatical gender (a grammatical category in inflected languages governing the agreement between nouns and pronouns and adjectives; in some languages it is quite arbitrary but in Indo-European languages it is usually based on sex or animateness)
Derivation:
feminine (of grammatical gender)
II. (adjective)
Sense 1
Meaning:
Associated with women and not with men
Example:
feminine intuition
Classified under:
Similar:
fair (attractively feminine)
distaff; female (characteristic of or peculiar to a woman)
maidenlike; maidenly (befitting or characteristic of a maiden)
powder-puff (used of competitive activities in which only women take part)
Also:
female (being the sex (of plant or animal) that produces fertilizable gametes (ova) from which offspring develop)
feminine (of grammatical gender)
Antonym:
masculine (associated with men and not with women)
Derivation:
feminineness (the properties characteristic of the female sex)
femininity (the trait of behaving in ways considered typical for women)
Sense 2
Meaning:
Befitting or characteristic of a woman especially a mature woman
Example:
womanly virtues of gentleness and compassion
Synonyms:
feminine; womanly
Classified under:
Similar:
matronly (befitting or characteristic of a fully mature woman)
womanlike (resembling a woman)
Derivation:
feminineness (the properties characteristic of the female sex)
Sense 3
Meaning:
Of grammatical gender
Classified under:
Adjectives
Also:
feminine (associated with women and not with men)
Antonym:
masculine; neuter (of grammatical gender)
Derivation:
feminine (a gender that refers chiefly (but not exclusively) to females or to objects classified as female)
Sense 4
Meaning:
(music or poetry) ending on an unaccented beat or syllable
Example:
a feminine ending
Classified under:
Adjectives
Similar:
unstressed (not bearing a stress or accent)
Domain category:
music (an artistic form of auditory communication incorporating instrumental or vocal tones in a structured and continuous manner)
Context examples:
On the other hand, he did see Ruth's point of view, after she had explained it; and he looked upon it as a feminine weakness, such as afflicted all women and the best of women.
(Martin Eden, by Jack London)
The weather soon improved enough for those to move who must move; and Mr. Woodhouse having, as usual, tried to persuade his daughter to stay behind with all her children, was obliged to see the whole party set off, and return to his lamentations over the destiny of poor Isabella;—which poor Isabella, passing her life with those she doated on, full of their merits, blind to their faults, and always innocently busy, might have been a model of right feminine happiness.
(Emma, by Jane Austen)
The air of wicked grace: of triumph, in which, strange to say, there was yet something feminine and alluring: with which she reclined upon the seat between us, and looked at me, was worthy of a cruel Princess in a Legend.
(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)
Jo valued goodness highly, but she also possessed a most feminine respect for intellect, and a little discovery which she made about the Professor added much to her regard for him.
(Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott)
“Not half a mile,” was his sturdy answer; for he was not yet so much in love as to measure distance, or reckon time, with feminine lawlessness.
(Mansfield Park, by Jane Austen)
Simple Alleyne opened his eyes at this little spurt of feminine bitterness.
(The White Company, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)
I was surprised, and joyfully, that she was so much the woman, and the display of each trait and mannerism that was characteristically feminine gave me keener joy.
(The Sea-Wolf, by Jack London)
Likewise her feminine eye took in the clothes he wore, the cheap and unaesthetic cut, the wrinkling of the coat across the shoulders, and the series of wrinkles in the sleeves that advertised bulging biceps muscles.
(Martin Eden, by Jack London)
A youth passed in solitude, my best years spent under your gentle and feminine fosterage, has so refined the groundwork of my character that I cannot overcome an intense distaste to the usual brutality exercised on board ship: I have never believed it to be necessary, and when I heard of a mariner equally noted for his kindliness of heart and the respect and obedience paid to him by his crew, I felt myself peculiarly fortunate in being able to secure his services.
(Frankenstein, by Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley)
Now, if Jo had not been new to this sort of thing she would have said she wasn't crying, had a cold in her head, or told any other feminine fib proper to the occasion.
(Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott)
