MASCULINE

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 Dictionary entry overview: What does masculine mean? 

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

1. a gender that refers chiefly (but not exclusively) to males or to objects classified as male

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

• MASCULINE (adjective)
  The adjective MASCULINE has 3 senses:

1. of grammatical gender

2. associated with men and not with women

3. (music or poetry) ending on an accented beat or syllable

  Familiarity information: MASCULINE used as an adjective is uncommon.

 Dictionary entry details 

• MASCULINE (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

A gender that refers chiefly (but not exclusively) to males or to objects classified as male

Classified under:

Nouns denoting communicative processes and contents

Hypernyms ("masculine" 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)

• MASCULINE (adjective)

Sense 1

Meaning:

Of grammatical gender

Also:

masculine (associated with men and not with women)

Antonym:

feminine; neuter (of grammatical gender)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Associated with men and not with women

Similar:

butch; macho (used of men; markedly masculine in appearance or manner)

male; manful; manlike; manly; virile (characteristic of a man)

mannish (characteristic of a man as distinguished from a woman)

Also:

manful; manlike; manly (possessing qualities befitting a man)

male (being the sex (of plant or animal) that produces gametes (spermatozoa) that perform the fertilizing function in generation)

masculine (of grammatical gender)

Antonym:

feminine (associated with women and not with men)

Derivation:

masculinity (the trait of behaving in ways considered typical for men)

masculinity (the properties characteristic of the male sex)

Sense 3

Meaning:

(music or poetry) ending on an accented beat or syllable

Context example:

the masculine rhyme of 'annoy, enjoy'

Similar:

accented; stressed (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 

But Wolf Larsen was the man-type, the masculine, and almost a god in his perfectness.

(The Sea-Wolf, by Jack London)

Large, masculine feet they were, with peculiarly long, sharp toes.

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

Her ideal of masculine beauty had always been slender gracefulness.

(Martin Eden, by Jack London)

Standing in the doorway and glancing round me, I had a general impression of extraordinary comfort and elegance combined with an atmosphere of masculine virility.

(The Lost World, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

Now that was tact, for two of the ruling foibles of the masculine mind were touched.

(Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott)

Their style is clear, masculine, and smooth, but not florid; for they avoid nothing more than multiplying unnecessary words, or using various expressions.

(Gulliver's Travels into several remote nations of the world, by Jonathan Swift)

He was young, not more than five-and-twenty, I should say, with a strong, masculine face; but he was exceedingly pale and gave me the impression of a man who was suffering from some strong agitation, which it took all his strength of mind to control.

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

The word ‘Croydon’ has been originally spelled with an ‘i,’ which has been changed to ‘y.’ The parcel was directed, then, by a man—the printing is distinctly masculine—of limited education and unacquainted with the town of Croydon.

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

“I will not,” said Mrs. Micawber, finishing her punch, and gathering her scarf about her shoulders, preparatory to her withdrawal to my bedroom: “I will not protract these remarks on the subject of Mr. Micawber's pecuniary affairs. At your fireside, my dear Mr. Copperfield, and in the presence of Mr. Traddles, who, though not so old a friend, is quite one of ourselves, I could not refrain from making you acquainted with the course I advise Mr. Micawber to take. I feel that the time is arrived when Mr. Micawber should exert himself and—I will add—assert himself, and it appears to me that these are the means. I am aware that I am merely a female, and that a masculine judgement is usually considered more competent to the discussion of such questions; still I must not forget that, when I lived at home with my papa and mama, my papa was in the habit of saying, “Emma's form is fragile, but her grasp of a subject is inferior to none.”

(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)

The new face, too, was like a new picture introduced to the gallery of memory; and it was dissimilar to all the others hanging there: firstly, because it was masculine; and, secondly, because it was dark, strong, and stern.

(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)