Did you know?
Luckily, there's no doubt about what virility is, since it's depicted on the covers of dozens of new romance novels every month! A masterful and dominating manner, a splendid bared chest, a full head of lustrous hair, and an array of stunning costumes seem to be what's required. (Virile traits often missing in these men are hair on the chest and any hint of future baldness.) High-school football provides a showplace for demonstrations of adolescent virility, and for years afterward virile high-school players can keep using football language in their business life: "get to the red zone", "Hail Mary pass", "move the ball", and on and on.
Examples of virility in a Sentence
Steven Sloan, Los Angeles Times, 20 Jan. 2026
Contrasting rumors of Hitler’s virility could have actually been very welcome, and such were never confirmed nor denied.
—Rosemary Counter, Vanity Fair, 19 Jan. 2026
Jens snorts angrily; the frost has deprived him of his virility and transformed him into a helpless old man.
—Literary Hub, 10 Nov. 2025
For someone like Eli, then, projecting movie-star-like virility and vigor was an exercise in social advancement, in distancing himself from his babushka forebears’ grim reality.
—David Kamp, New Yorker, 4 Oct. 2025
See All Example Sentences for virility
Cite this Entry
“Virility.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/virility. Accessed 4 Feb. 2026.
Copy CitationKids Definition
virility
noun
