mannish

adjective

man·​nish ˈma-nish How to pronounce mannish (audio)
1
: resembling or suggesting a man rather than a woman
2
: generally associated with or characteristic of a man rather than a woman
her mannish clothes
mannishly adverb
mannishness noun

Examples of mannish in a Sentence

She was wearing a hat and mannish clothing. She had a deep and rather mannish voice.
Recent Examples on the Web Sandra wears a suit jacket in court to signal her bisexuality, consistent with the mannish presiding judge (Anne Rotger) and the accusatory court spectators. Armond White, National Review, 31 Jan. 2024 They were taken in by the beautiful Laura Fairlie and her mannish, mustached half-sister, Marian Halcombe. Katherine Hobbs, Smithsonian Magazine, 29 Jan. 2024 However overacted, Goerke’s Ortrud delivered the vocal goods, by turns scorching and smoldering, with mannish chest voice at moments. Scott Cantrell, Dallas News, 30 Mar. 2023 If switching from slim-cut jeans to baggy denim was a big leap of faith for you, then admittedly the mannish pant trend might seem foreign. Vogue, 7 Apr. 2022 That sounded very old-mannish. Dallas News, 2 Jan. 2022 Likewise, there’s nothing inherently mannish about strumming electric guitars or banging on drums except that the culture has made it so. Bill Laitner, Detroit Free Press, 11 Nov. 2022 Nadia Krasteva’s Maddalena, tarted up to look like a drag queen, with a retinue of floozies, supplies hefty mezzo tones, even mannish chest voice. Dallas News, 10 Oct. 2022 Early 20th-century writers, who failed to identify her as a lesbian, sometimes described her as strangely mannish, asexual—and odd. Alice George, Smithsonian Magazine, 14 Nov. 2022

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'mannish.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

First Known Use

14th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Time Traveler
The first known use of mannish was in the 14th century

Dictionary Entries Near mannish

Cite this Entry

“Mannish.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/mannish. Accessed 19 Mar. 2024.

Kids Definition

mannish

adjective
man·​nish ˈman-ish How to pronounce mannish (audio)
: resembling, suggesting, suitable to, or characteristic of a man rather than a woman
a mannish voice
her mannish clothes
mannishly adverb
mannishness noun

More from Merriam-Webster on mannish

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
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