hoydenish

adjective

Definition of hoydenishnext
as in masculine
having qualities or traits that are traditionally considered inappropriate for a girl or woman a designer whose eclectic spring line paired hoydenish work boots with frilly skirts

Synonyms & Similar Words

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms

Example Sentences

Recent Examples of Synonyms for hoydenish
  1. masculine
  2. unladylike
  3. unfeminine
  4. male
Adjective
  • Zoe’s mentioned this idea of masculine and feminine energy — what one presents and what one actually holds, and the old switcheroos of that.
    — Yvonne Villarreal, Los Angeles Times, 1 Oct. 2026
  • Ramírez translated the dance into rigorous black silhouettes, tailoring, restraint and the tension between masculine and feminine.
    — Michelle Edgar, Footwear News, 29 Sep. 2026
Definition of masculine
Adjective
  • Whether these ads were meant to imply that clutching and shifting was too physical for women, too unladylike, or just too complex for the little dears is not clear.
    — Jody Mamone, Hartford Courant, 14 Sep. 2026
  • That would have been unladylike.
    — Lucy Worsley September 16, Literary Hub, 16 Sep. 2025
Definition of unladylike
Adjective
  • Women fighting for the right to vote were seen by their detractors as unfeminine, and vinegar valentines were a cheap and convenient medium to enforce gender roles.
    — Melissa Chan, Fortune, 14 Feb. 2026
  • The intention behind this final postcard may have been, yet again, to paint the fight for suffrage as absurd, to make suffragists seem like willful, unfeminine animals.
    — Natalie Kinkade, JSTOR Daily, 25 Sep. 2024
Definition of unfeminine
Adjective
  • Older male actors are particularly common bait, according to Arrigoni.
    — Maxwell Adler, Vanity Fair, 2 Oct. 2026
  • First, the sequence pays homage to the nightclub scene in Gilda (1946), in which Rita Hayworth dances in a long shot amid ogling male patrons, tracked by a concentrated spotlight.
    — Harmon Siegel, Artforum, 1 Oct. 2026
Definition of male
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Browse Nearby Words

hoyden
hoydenish
hoydens
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Cite this Entry

“Hoydenish.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/hoydenish. Accessed 6 Oct. 2026.

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