different between womanish vs womanlike

English

Etymology

From Middle English wommanyssh. Equivalent to woman +? -ish.

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /?w?m?n??/

Adjective

womanish (comparative more womanish, superlative most womanish)

1. (often derogatory) Characteristic of a woman; feminine; effeminate. [from 14th c.]
   • 1946, Bertrand Russell, History of Western Philosophy, I.20:

     Friends are a comfort in misfortune, but one should not make them unhappy by seeking their sympathy, as is done by women and womanish men.

   • 1982, Lawrence Durrell, Constance, Faber & Faber 2004 (Avignon Quintet), p. 753:

     Perhaps he did too, for he turned scarlet and turned his face away to the wall, with a womanish gesture of shyness.

2. Carried out by or pertaining to a woman. [from 14th c.]
   • 1590, Edmund Spenser, The Faerie Queene, III.7:

     And gan recomfort her in her rude wyse, / With womanish compassion of her plaint, / Wiping the teares from her suffused eyes [...].

Related terms

• womanly

Translations

See also

• girlish
• ladyish

English

Etymology

From woman +? -like.

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /?w?m?nl??k/

Adjective

womanlike (comparative more womanlike, superlative most womanlike)

1. Befitting or characteristic of a woman.
2. Resembling a woman; feminine; (of a man) effeminate.

Synonyms

• womanly

Adverb

womanlike (comparative more womanlike, superlative most womanlike)

1. In a manner perceived to be characteristic of a woman.
   • 1974, GB Edwards, The Book of Ebenezer Le Page, New York 2007, p. 313:

     I really meant it for a compliment, and to put her in a good mood; but, woman-like, she took it the wrong way.

Anagrams

• Lomekwian