Womanly

//ˈwʊmənli// adj, adv

adj, adv ·Uncommon ·Advanced level

Definitions

Adjective
  1. 1
    Considered typical of, stereotypical of, or appropriate to women; feminine.

    "I know that the sound of it moved me more even than her words, it was so very human - so very womanly."

  2. 2
    Female. rare
Adjective
  1. 1
    befitting or characteristic of a woman especially a mature woman wordnet
Adverb
  1. 1
    In the manner of a woman.

Synonyms

All synonyms
femininematronlywomanlikedistaffeffeminatefemale

Example

More examples

"I read a womanly expression on her face."

Etymology

Etymology 1

From Middle English womanly, wommanlich, wommanly, wommanlych, wummonlich, equivalent to woman + -ly (adjectival suffix).

Etymology 2

From Middle English wommanliche, wommanly, equivalent to woman + -ly (adverbial suffix).

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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.