femininity

/fɛmɪˈnɪnɪɾi/

/fɛmɪˈnɪnɪti/

Other forms: femininities

Femininity is a quality of acting in a typically womanly, girlish, or feminine way. Different cultures have different ideas of what femininity looks like.

If you're a gentle, sweet-natured person, your grandmother may praise your femininity. You might argue, however, that your brother is even sweeter and more soft-spoken than you are. Society has a particular idea and definition of exactly what femininity is, but this varies widely for individual women. Femininity comes from the adjective feminine, "relating to women," from the Latin femina, "woman."

Definitions of femininity

1. noun

   the trait of behaving in ways considered typical for women
   synonyms: muliebrity

   antonyms:

   masculinity

   the trait of behaving in ways considered typical for men

   types:

   womanlike, womanliness

   the trait of being womanly; having the characteristics of an adult female

   ladylikeness

   behavior befitting a lady

   maidenliness

   behavior befitting a young maiden

   girlishness

   being characteristic of a girl

   effeminacy, effeminateness, sissiness, softness, unmanliness, womanishness

   the trait of being effeminate (derogatory of a man)

   emasculation

   loss of power and masculinity

   type of:

   trait

   a distinguishing feature of your personal nature