Word.ws English Dictionary

effæminate

effæminate is the obsolete spelling of effeminate.

Meaning of effeminate

Adjective

effeminate (comparative more effeminate, superlative most effeminate)

  1. (derogatory, often) Of a boy or man, exhibiting behavior or mannerisms considered typical of a woman or unmasculine.
    • An effeminate and unmanly foppery.1759, Richard Hurd, Moral and Political Dialogues
  2. (obsolete) Womanly; tender, affectionate, caring.
    • Gentle, kind, effeminate remorse.c. 1593 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedy of Richard the Third: […]”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and...

See all 5 meanings of effeminate

Questions about effæminate

What is effæminate the obsolete spelling of?
Effæminate is the obsolete spelling of effeminate.

Words near effæminate in the dictionary

  1. effusivenesses
  2. effusivities
  3. effusivity
  4. effæminacies
  5. effæminacy
  6. effæminate
  7. effœminacie
  8. effœminacies
  9. effœminacy
  10. effœminat
  11. effœminate

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: effæminate (page history and authors); effeminate (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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Cite this entry: “effæminate.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/eff%C3%A6minate. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.