mannish
/ˈmanɪʃ
/adjective derogatory
(Of a woman) having an appearance and qualities that are typically associated with men and considered unbecoming in a woman: a mannish, sadistic matron...
- She was very mannish, and what we were taught was that those masculine traits were evil - and that her evil was somehow infectious.
- While her performance is deft and provocative, her mannish appearance is so off-putting that it's tough to imagine two men being so worked up over her they'd risk everything to have her.
- In Arzner's subtly altered version, Rosalind Russell's obsessive Harriet is a chilling yet mesmerising figure, and in low-angle shots and mannish attire, looms as majestic and vengeful as a modern-day Medea.
Synonyms
manlike, masculine, unfeminine, unwomanly, unladylike, Amazonian
informal butch, dykey
rare viraginous, viragoish
Derivatives
mannishly
/ adverb ...- Weigert attempts to inject testosterone into the role by lumbering about the stage shoulders first and sitting mannishly with her legs apart.
- Her stylish ringlets appear more ‘feminine’ when contrasted to the strange, almost mannishly cropped hair of the standing figure.
- By the 1930s she dressed more mannishly, wearing a tie and jacket with skirts.
mannishness
/ noun ...- Men started to denounce the ‘mannishness’ of women and became obsessed by images of the femme fatale.
- Instead of grace, there has come in many women an affectation of mannishness, as is shown in hats, jackets, long strides, and a healthful swinging of the arms in walking.
- It is unfortunate that society links women's sports with mannishness.
Origin
Old English mennisc 'human' (see man, -ish1). The current sense dates from late Middle English.