EFFEMINACY

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does effeminacy mean? 

• EFFEMINACY (noun)
  The noun EFFEMINACY has 1 sense:

1. the trait of being effeminate (derogatory of a man)

  Familiarity information: EFFEMINACY used as a noun is very rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• EFFEMINACY (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

The trait of being effeminate (derogatory of a man)

Classified under:

Nouns denoting attributes of people and objects

Synonyms:

effeminacy; effeminateness; sissiness; softness; unmanliness; womanishness

Context example:

he was shocked by the softness of the atmosphere surrounding the young prince, arising from the superfluity of the femininity that guided him

Hypernyms ("effeminacy" is a kind of...):

femininity; muliebrity (the trait of behaving in ways considered typical for women)

Domain usage:

depreciation; derogation; disparagement (a communication that belittles somebody or something)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "effeminacy"):

emasculation (loss of power and masculinity)

 Context examples 

Yet there was a set of the mouth and a prominence of the chin which relieved him of any trace of effeminacy.

(The White Company, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

In the window was a sumptuous writing-desk, and every detail of the apartment, the pictures, the rugs, and the hangings, all pointed to a taste which was luxurious to the verge of effeminacy.

(The Return of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)