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
Adjective
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However, throughout the history of Iranian cinema, perceptive filmmakers have sought to challenge the dominant masculine structure that governs visual language.—
Ali Farahmand,
IndieWire,
8 July 2025 -
Denying your primal, masculine nature will only leave you weak and unhappy.—
John McDermott,
Rolling Stone,
6 July 2025
Adjective
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The new girl’s unladylike bravado ensures that she will be asked to board with the Brown girl.—
Chris Bohjalian,
Washington Post,
17 Aug. 2023
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In fact, one of the choicest bites of the entire meal was an unladylike gnaw of the generous gristle on a bone followed by a spoonful of marrow-thickened soup, bobbing with cubes of cleansing daikon.—
Jiayang Fan,
The New Yorker,
2 Sep. 2022
Adjective
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Dior’s collection referenced the H-line created by its founder Christian Dior for Fall-Winter 1954-1955 – a controversial silhouette at the time as its flattened shape appeared, for some, unfeminine.—
Alice Pfeiffer,
CNN,
28 Jan. 2025
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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
Adjective
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In keeping with popular male balms for spiritual suffering, Turner turns to alcohol and functions as a mollusk, socially and professionally; his stoicism is an act, one his peers pick up on, and which some openly deride.—
Andy Crump,
Time,
20 July 2025
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There’s an evident shy attraction between the two, but the two men, both nearing 30, bond first and foremost over their mutual male pattern baldness.—
Guy Lodge,
Variety,
19 July 2025
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Cite this Entry
“Hoydenish.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/hoydenish. Accessed 23 Jul. 2025.
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