maidenlikeadj.adv.
/ˈmeɪdnlʌɪk/, U.S. /ˈmeɪdnˌlaɪk/ A. adj.
Such as is usual with maidens; befitting or resembling a maiden.
ΘΚΠ
the world > people > person > young person > young woman > [adjective]
maidenly1530
maidenlike1548
maiden1594
young-ladylike1754
sweet sixteen1826
young ladyish1832
young-womanly1836
flapperish1920
teenybop1967
the mind > emotion > humility > feeling of shame > [adjective] > having sense of shame or decency > maidenly
maidenly1523
maidenlike1548
maidly1560
maiden1594
1548 Hall's Vnion: Henry VI f. clxxxiij The yong erle of Rutland..scace of ye age of.xii.yeres, a faire gentleman, and a maydenlike person.
?1590 Bk. of Robin Conscience (new ed.) sig. Biiij To clatter and flatter is no maidenlike way.
1825 J. Neal Brother Jonathan II. 179 Our boy contrived..to do a multitude of..pretty, maiden-like things.
1834 E. Bulwer-Lytton Last Days of Pompeii I. i. ii. 23 Her manners are not maidenlike.
1865 G. Meredith Rhoda Fleming xvi A really fine opal, coquetting with the lights of every gem;..at times it slept in a milky cloud, innocent of fire, quite maidenlike.
1990 Stereo Rev. Feb. 140 A soprano whose instrument is..neither too small for Wagner's scoring nor too large to convey convincingly a maiden-like quality.
After the manner of maidens. Obsolete.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > emotion > humility > feeling of shame > [adverb] > with sense of shame or decency > appropriate to a maiden
maidenly1523
maidenlike1589
1589 A. Fleming tr. Virgil Georgiks i. 15 in A. Fleming tr. Virgil Bucoliks If she ouercast vpon hir face a virgins rednesse Or blushing maidenlike.
1632 W. Lithgow Totall Disc. Trav. iii. 96 He was maiden-like brought vp amongst the Kings daughters.
1847 Ld. Tennyson Princess iv. 69 And maidenlike as far As I could ape their treble, did I sing.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, June 2000; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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adj.adv.1548