effeminacy

[ ih-fem-uh-nuh-see ]
See synonyms for effeminacy on Thesaurus.com
noun
  1. the state or quality of being effeminate.

Origin of effeminacy

1
First recorded in 1595–1605; effemin(ate) + -acy

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use effeminacy in a sentence

  • For in losing the masculinity of their race the Greeks devoted themselves more and more to refined effeminacies.

  • He gazed doubtfully at the birds, as though they might possibly be deteriorating in the effeminacies of shore life.

  • Among the effeminacies of Italy, the classic arrangement of the hair and beard seem to have held a foremost place.

  • Being commanded to put on a purple garment by the king of Sicily, he refused, saying he was a man, and scorned such effeminacies.

    No Cross, No Crown | William Penn
  • Precisely similar effeminacies were recognised as pathological by Herodotus, to whom Greek paiderastia was familiar.

    A Problem in Greek Ethics | John Addington Symonds