What does effeminacy mean?
Effeminacy is a noun denoting the quality of being effeminate — that is, displaying traits, mannerisms, or appearance conventionally associated with women, especially when these appear in a man. Historically rooted in Latin effeminatus ('made womanish'), the term has long carried a negative charge: classical and early modern writers used it to condemn what they saw as weakness, indulgence, or a failure of masculine virtue, from love of luxury to gentle speech or refined dress. In modern English it retains this pejorative coloring and can be offensive when applied to individuals, so careful writers tend to use it when discussing historical attitudes, literary criticism, or debates about gender norms rather than as a neutral description. Its antonyms include virility and masculinity. Related forms are the adjective 'effeminate' and the adverb 'effeminately'. The word is useful chiefly for understanding how societies have policed gender expression across history.
nounThe quality or state of being effeminate; behavior, mannerisms, or appearance traditionally regarded as characteristic of women rather than men. It often carries a pejorative charge, implying unmanliness in a man.
- Womanish traits, mannerisms, or appearance in a man, especially as viewed disapprovingly.
- More generally, softness or delicacy of character regarded as unbecoming in a man.
"In the Victorian imagination, a taste for luxury and idleness was frequently equated with effeminacy."
"Roman moralists condemned any fondness for baths, banquets, and silk as signs of effeminacy."
"He spoke softly and dressed with care, but his critics mistook elegance for effeminacy."
Rare; the noun is normally used as an uncountable mass noun referring to a general quality.
"Moralists catalogued the effeminacies of the decadent aristocracy."
The word comes from Latin 'effeminare' — literally 'to make womanish' — and for centuries it was hurled at men who loved comfort, poetry, or fashion.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Etymology of effeminacy
Effeminacy derives from the Latin verb effeminare, meaning 'to make womanish', formed from ex- ('out of') plus femina ('woman'), which also gives English 'female' and 'feminine'. The adjective effeminate entered Middle English via Old French in the late medieval period, and the noun effeminacy was formed from it in English, attested by the sixteenth century. Its cognates include feminine, feminine-related terms such as feminize, and the shared root femina underlying words like femme and feminist.
Related word forms
How effeminacy is actually used
Formal to literary register. The word is inherently judgmental when applied to people and can be offensive in modern usage; contemporary writing more often discusses it historically or critically than uses it descriptively.
Easily confused with effeminacy
Femininity is the neutral, positive quality of being womanlike in anyone; effeminacy refers specifically to womanish traits in a man and is usually derogatory.