girly
/ˈɡɜːli/US/ˈɡɝli/
girly adjective: characteristic of a stereotypical girl, very effeminate, gentle; unmasculine.
Adjective
girly (comparative girlier, superlative girliest)
- Characteristic of a stereotypical girl, very effeminate, gentle; unmasculine.
- As a mom of two girls – including one who hopes Peyton Manning of the Denver Broncos calls her to play on his team in this week’s Super Bowl – I can totally relate. I, along with so many other parents, am frustrated about the definitions of what’s girly and what’s not, and the separate products and...2014 January 31, Kelly Wallace, “Pink, princess-y and sexy too soon”, in CNN
- The Forever21 of Korean makeup, Etude House is geared toward the girliest of girls – and Japanese tourists.2017 July 12, Frances Cha, “Complete Korean cosmetics shopping guide”, in CNN
- Of, or pertaining to, a young, attractive woman; especially one who is scantily clad.
- a girly calendar
- Weak; wussy.
- There was enough food for a soccer team and we were going to grill it. Our meatfest included no girly utensils, no wussy plates. Just our hands, mouths, and incisors.2013, L. A. Campbell, Cartboy and the Time Capsule, page 112
Noun
girly (plural girlies)
- A girl.
- “Hey girly!” Chiles said. “What’s up!” / “Oh my gosh,” Raisman said. “How did you get in our hotel room?”2025 April 18, Elise Devlin, “Jordan Chiles, Aly Raisman and the benefits of ‘mutual mentorship’”, in The Athletic, New York, N.Y.: The New York Times Company, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the...
Adverb
girly
- In the manner of a girl.
- And its^([sic]) not just the blue nail polish. It’s the way his mind is attuned. He is incredibly in touch and in tune with females. Females surround him in his company. His partner in Jersey Films is Stacey Scherr.^([sic]) He can talk about boyfriends. He can talk girly.1996 November 17, Chrissy Iley, “Danny DeVito”, in Men, Women, Love, Sex, God & Death: The Collected Sunday Times Writings, London: André Deutsch, published 1997, →ISBN, chapter 10 (Sweet), page 340
- ‘He really cares about you,’ Slider said awkwardly. Doing the old bosom-baring on your own behalf was bad enough, but having to talk girly about a male friend was as easy as eating a sand sandwich.2001, Cynthia Harrod-Eagles, “Not Buried But In Turd”, in Gone Tomorrow, London: Little, Brown and Company, →ISBN, page 203
Examples of girly in a sentence
- I, along with so many other parents, am frustrated about the definitions of what’s girly and what’s not, and the separate products and clothing offered to girls and boys.2014 January 31, Kelly Wallace, “Pink, princess-y and sexy too soon”, in CNN:
- Going to talk girly and drown my sorrow in mojitos.”2013 April 2, Nicole Knepper, “The Vagina Dialogues”, in Moms Who Drink and Swear: True Tales of Loving My Kids While Losing My Mind, New...
- “[…] To me, he looks kinda girly to be in charge.” […] “Grab any sword you like, and we’ll see if I fight ‘girly’.”2013 June 19, Michael J. Bowler, “We’re Brothers Now, Aren’t We?”, in Children of the Knight (The Lance Chronicles; 1), Tallahassee, Fla....
- “[…] Like if he talks kind of girly, or sort of walks like a girl, it might mean he’s gay.” “I don’t talk girly, do I?” I squeak in alarm.2017 August 28, Huston Piner, “Dedicated to the One I Love”, in My Life as a Myth (Chadham High; 1), Albuquerque, N.M.: NineStar Press...
Synonyms of girly
Antonyms
Forms of girly
| Adjective | |
|---|---|
| comparative | girlier |
| superlative | girliest |
| Noun | |
| plural | girlies |
Origin of girly
From girl + -y (adjectival sufix).
From girl + -y (diminutive suffix).
From girl + -ly (adverbial suffix), after the adjective.
Words formed from girly
Phrases with girly
Words that rhyme with girly
Questions about girly
- What does girly mean?
- Girly means characteristic of a stereotypical girl, very effeminate, gentle; unmasculine.
- How do you use girly in a sentence?
- I, along with so many other parents, am frustrated about the definitions of what’s girly and what’s not, and the separate products and clothing offered to girls and boys.
- What part of speech is girly?
- Girly can be an adjective, a noun or an adverb.
- How do you pronounce girly?
- Girly is pronounced /ˈɡɝli/ (US).
Words near girly in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: girly (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.
Last updated:
Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-girly.wav.
Cite this entry: “girly.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/girly. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.