manfulness

M3A1N1F4U1L1N1E1S1S1

noun

The state of being manful

Scrabble 15

Meanings

nounmanfulness (usually uncountable, plural manfulnesses)

plural manfulnesses

  1. uncountableusuallyThe state of being manful

    He only sees his own weakness, and want of life, of spirit, of manfulness, of power.

    1881, Charles Kingsley, Westminster Sermons
    2 more examples

    He will at least have the manfulness to depart out of it, if not; to say: "I cannot move in thee, and be a man; like a wretched drift-log dressed in man's clothes and minister's clothes, doomed to a lot baser than belongs to man, I will not continue with thee, tumbling aimless on the Mother of Dead Dogs here:--Adieu!"

    1881, Thomas Carlyle, Past and Present

    Nor were these sentiments, be it remembered, the mere boasting manifesto of a hot-brained inexperienced youth, entering on literature with feelings of heroic ardour, which its difficulties and temptations would soon deaden or pervert: they are the calm principles of a man, expressed with honest manfulness, at a period when the world could compare them with a long course of conduct.

    1825, Thomas Carlyle, The Life of Friedrich Schiller

Synonyms & antonyms

nounthe trait of being manly; having the characteristics of an adult male

Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.

Origin

  1. Middle Englishmanfulnesse
  2. Englishmanfulness

From Middle English manfulnesse; equivalent to manful + -ness.

Full word history & related roots →
Cite this entry
APA

manfulness. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/manfulness

MLA

“manfulness.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/manfulness. Accessed November 3, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “manfulness,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/manfulness.

Source: manfulness on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.