womanish

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

• (UK) IPA^(key): /ˈwʊmənɪʃ/

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 [...].

• womanly

• girlish
• ladyish