unmanning

1. gerundparticiplepresentpresent participle and gerund of unman

comparative more unmanning · superlative most unmanning

1. That destroys manly virtues or qualities; that renders effeminate or helpless.

   Blanford did not see quite how; but her sweet enthusiasm was so warming, and the tang of her kiss so unmanning that he found himself nodding agreement.

   1978, Lawrence Durrell, Livia (Avignon Quintet), Faber & Faber, published 1992, page 407

plural unmannings

1. The removal of manly qualities.

   Schreber's transformation into a woman begins internally, in terms of thoughts and sensations and nerves. Only then does it begin to manifest itself externally. In this respect, Schreber mentions two brief unmannings in the asylum.

   2004, Michael Vannoy Adams, The Fantasy Principle: Psychoanalysis of the Imagination, page 106