FEMININE definition and meaning | Collins English Dictionary (2025)

COBUILD frequency band

feminine

(femɪnɪn )

1.adjective [usually ADJECTIVE noun]

Feminine qualities and things relate to or are considered typical of women, in contrast to men.

Women all over the world are abandoning traditional feminine roles.

...a manufactured ideal of feminine beauty.

2.adjective

Someone or something that is feminine has qualities that are considered typical of women, especially being pretty or gentle.

[approval]

I've always been attracted to very feminine, delicate women.

The bedroom has a light, feminine look.

3.adjective

In some languages, a feminine noun, pronoun, or adjective has a different form from a masculine or neuter one, or behaves in a different way.

More Synonyms of feminine

Collins COBUILD Advanced Learner’s Dictionary. Copyright © HarperCollins Publishers

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British English pronunciation

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American English pronunciation

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COBUILD frequency band

feminine in British English

(ˈfɛmɪnɪn )

adjective

1.

suitable to or characteristic of a woman

a feminine fashion

2.

possessing qualities or characteristics considered typical of or appropriate to a woman

3.

effeminate; womanish

4. grammar

a.

denoting or belonging to a gender of nouns, occurring in many inflected languages, that includes all kinds of referents as well as some female animate referents

b.

(as noun)

German Zeit 'time' and Ehe 'marriage' are feminines

Collins English Dictionary. Copyright © HarperCollins Publishers

Derived forms

femininely (ˈfemininely)

adverb

feminineness (ˈfeminineness)

noun

Word origin

C14: from Latin fēminīnus, from fēmina woman

COBUILD frequency band

feminine in American English

(ˈfɛmənɪn )

adjective

1.

female; of women or girls

2.

having qualities regarded as characteristic of women and girls, as gentleness, weakness, delicacy, or modesty

3.

suitable to or characteristic of a woman; womanly

4.

effeminate; womanish

said of a man

5. Grammar

designating, of, or belonging to the gender of words denoting, or referring to, females as well as many other words to which no distinction of sex is attributed

6. Music

designating or of a cadence ending on an unaccented note or chord

7. Prosody

a.

ending with an unstressed syllable, as a line of verse

b.

designating or of a rhyme in which the rhyming elements have two, or sometimes three, syllables of which only the first is stressed (Ex.: danger, stranger)

noun Grammar

8.

the feminine gender

9.

a word or form in this gender

SIMILAR WORDS: ˈfeˌmale

Webster’s New World College Dictionary, 4th Edition. Copyright © 2010 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. All rights reserved.

Derived forms

femininely (ˈfemininely)

adverb

femininity (ˌfemiˈninity)

noun

Word origin

ME < OFr < L femininus < femina, woman

COBUILD frequency band

feminine in American English

(ˈfemənɪn)

adjective

1.

pertaining to a woman or girl

feminine beauty

feminine dress

2.

having qualities traditionally ascribed to women, as sensitivity or gentleness

3.

effeminate; womanish

a man with a feminine walk

4.

belonging to the female sex; female

feminine staff members

5.Grammar

noting or pertaining to that one of the three genders of Latin, Greek, German, etc., or one of the two genders of French, Spanish, Hebrew, etc., having among its members most nouns referring to females, as well as other nouns, as Latin stellastar,” or German Zeit “time”

noun Grammar

6.

the feminine gender

7.

a noun or other element in or marking that gender

SYNONYMS 2. See female.

Most material © 2005, 1997, 1991 by Penguin Random House LLC. Modified entries © 2019 by Penguin Random House LLC and HarperCollins Publishers Ltd

Derived forms

femininely

adverb

feminineness

noun

Word origin

[1350–1400; ME ‹ AF, OF: fem. of feminin ‹ L of fēminīnus, equiv. to fēmin(a) woman ( see fetus) + -īnus -ine1]

Examples of 'feminine' in a sentence

feminine

These examples have been automatically selected and may contain sensitive content that does not reflect the opinions or policies of Collins, or its parent company HarperCollins.

We welcome feedback: report an example sentence to the Collins team. Read more…

The loss of a feminine hand soon became apparent.

The Guardian (2016)

There are feminine straight men and there are masculine straight women.

The Guardian (2016)

Maybe the feminine curves of the dunes suggest a softer place.

The Guardian (2016)

She grew her hair longer and adopted a feminine voice.

The Guardian (2016)

Poetry might come across as too feminine.

The Guardian (2016)

Perhaps too there is something quintessentially feminine about the hang.

Times, Sunday Times (2015)

Eight glasses a day is what her doctor recommended to her as one of those feminine beauty tricks.

Times, Sunday Times (2008)

When done correctly, there is something very feminine about white leather.

Times, Sunday Times (2013)

I was doing the most feminine thing a woman can do and it felt fantastic.

Times, Sunday Times (2006)

He offered financial support and I provided sparkling feminine company, always fitting in with his schedule.

Times, Sunday Times (2015)

COBUILD Collocations

feminine

feminine pronoun

FEMININE definition and meaning | Collins English Dictionary (2025)
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