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English

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Alternative forms

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Etymology

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

Pronunciation

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  • IPA(key): /ˈwʊmənli/
  • Audio (Southern England):(file)
  • Hyphenation: wom‧an‧ly
  • Audio:(file)

Adjective

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womanly (comparative womanlier, superlative womanliest)

  1. Considered typical of, stereotypical of, or appropriate to women; feminine.
    • 1886 October – 1887 January, H[enry] Rider Haggard, She: A History of Adventure, London: Longmans, Green, and Co., published 1887, →OCLC:
      I know that the sound of it moved me more even than her words, it was so very human - so very womanly.
    • 1938, Norman Lindsay, Age of Consent, 1st Australian edition, Sydney, N.S.W.: Ure Smith, published 1962, →OCLC, page 149:
      "What I mean, a woman who doesn't go in for booze and sport and cigarettes. Man gets sick of these tough flappers. Give me a womanly woman every time. As I said before, I could see at a glance that you were a thoroughly womanly woman."
  2. (rare) Female.

Antonyms

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Coordinate terms

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Derived terms

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Translations

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Adverb

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womanly (comparative more womanly, superlative most womanly)

  1. In the manner of a woman.

Middle English

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Adjective

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womanly

  1. Alternative form of wommanly