unmasculine

U1N1M3A1S1C3U1L1I1N1E1

adjective

Not masculine; not characteristic of, typical of, or appropriate for a man, unmanly.

Scrabble 15

Meanings

adjectiveunmasculine (comparative more unmasculine, superlative most unmasculine)

comparative more unmasculine · superlative most unmasculine

  1. Not masculine; not characteristic of, typical of, or appropriate for a man, unmanly.

    A fag is profoundly unmasculine, yet possesses the ability to penetrate and thus render any boy unmasculine.

    2007, C. J. Pascoe, Dude, You’re a Fag: Masculinity and Sexuality in High School, University of California Press, →ISBN, page 157
    2 more examples

    Characteristics labeled as unmasculine or as failure to conform to gender expectations include observable behaviors such as avoidance of rough-and-tumble play, typical boys' games, and athletic activities; no imagining of oneself as a sports figure; and no desire to grow up to be like one's father.

    1998, Ritch Williams-Savin, …And Then I Became Gay: Young Men's Stories, Routledge, →ISBN

    Fusionism, Hammer said, is “inherently effete, limp, and, as Hillsdale College’s David Azerrad might say, unmasculine.”

    2021 December 1, David French, “The New Right’s Strange and Dangerous Cult of Toughness”, in The Atlantic, archived from the original on 03 Dec 2021

Synonyms & antonyms

Also see

Origin

  1. Proto-Indo-European*né
  2. Proto-Indo-European*n̥-
  3. Proto-Germanic*un-
  4. Proto-West Germanic*un-
  5. Old Englishun-
  6. Middle Englishun-
  7. Englishun-
  8. Englishmasculine
  9. Englishunmasculine

From un- + masculine.

Full word history & related roots →

Translations

Dutch onmannelijk
  • onmannelijkunmasculine
Finnish epämiehekäs, epämaskuliininen
  • epämiehekäsunmasculine
  • epämaskuliininenunmasculine
German un­männ­lich
  • un­männ­lichunmasculine
Cite this entry
APA

unmasculine. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/unmasculine

MLA

“unmasculine.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/unmasculine. Accessed November 4, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “unmasculine,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/unmasculine.

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