ladylike
/ˈleɪ.di.laɪ̯k/
ladylike adjective: of or related to the appearance or behaviour of a well-mannered woman.
Adjective
ladylike (comparative more ladylike, superlative most ladylike)
- Of or related to the appearance or behaviour of a well-mannered woman.
- Coniux imperioſa. Ouidius. A ladylike wife that will be obeyed. […] Dura domina, imperioſa. Cic. A rigorous and ladilike dame that will be obeyed.1565, Thomas Cooper, Thesaurus Linguæ Romanæ & Britannicæ, […], London
- Is it ladylike to giggle? / Is it ladylike to wink? / Is it ladylike to ride a horse astraddle? / Is it ladylike to wiggle? / Is it ladylike to drink? / Is it ladylike upon the beach to paddle? […]1906 November 29, W. D. Nesbit, “The Querist”, in Life, volume 48, number 1257, page 673
- Synonyms:
- ladily
Adverb
ladylike (comparative more ladylike, superlative most ladylike)
- In the manner of a lady.
- Mirrin had lifted her second cup of tea, holding it, ladylike, with finger and thumb of her right hand while her left palm supported the saucer.1976, Jessica Stirling [pseudonym; Hugh Crauford Rae], The Hiring Fair, Coronet Books, published 1998, →ISBN, page 271
- Men prefer feminine women, and there’s nothing feminine about hippos. They can’t walk ladylike, they can’t sit ladylike, and God forbid they should have to run!1980 April 21, Been There [pseudonym], “Dear Abby: Americans Want More Than Orientals Express”, in The Daily News Journal, 132nd year, number 44, Murfreesboro, Tenn., →ISSN, →OCLC, page 11, column 5
- Synonyms:
- ladily, ladylikely
ladylike meaning in Hindi, Urdu and Malayalam
ladylike in Hindi
- ladylike
- शालीन śālīn
ladylike in Urdu
- بااخلاق, بیگمانہ, خاتون صفت, خوش اسلوب, مہذب, ملائم
ladylike in Malayalam
- ladylike
- ശാലീനം śālīnaṁ
Examples of ladylike in a sentence
- Pirates, these women, with their ladylike briefcases for the loot and their horsy, acquisitive teeth.1985, Margaret Atwood, “Soul Scrolls”, in The Handmaid’s Tale, Toronto, Ont.: McClelland and Stewart, →ISBN, page 165:
- Taught me to speak ladylike . . . well, ladylike enough to pass in the shop.1998, Patricia Grey, chapter 22, in Cutter’s Wharf, large print edition, Anstey, Leicestershire: Charnwood, F. A. Thorpe (Publishing)...
Synonyms of ladylike
Forms of ladylike
| Adjective | |
|---|---|
| comparative | more ladylike |
| superlative | most ladylike |
| alternative form | lady-like |
| alternative form | ladilike |
| Adverb | |
| comparative | more ladylike |
| superlative | most ladylike |
Origin of ladylike
From lady + -like.
Words formed from ladylike
Phrases with ladylike
Questions about ladylike
- What does ladylike mean?
- Ladylike means of or related to the appearance or behaviour of a well-mannered woman.
- What is ladylike in Hindi?
- Ladylike in Hindi is शालीन (śālīn). See Ladylike meaning in Hindi.
- How do you use ladylike in a sentence?
- Pirates, these women, with their ladylike briefcases for the loot and their horsy, acquisitive teeth.
- What part of speech is ladylike?
- Ladylike can be an adjective or an adverb.
- How do you pronounce ladylike?
- Ladylike is pronounced /ˈleɪ.di.laɪ̯k/.
Words near ladylike in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: ladylike (page history and authors); शालीन (Hindi) (page history and authors); ladylike (Urdu Wiktionary) (page history and authors); ശാലീനം (Malayalam) (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)-Qwertygiy-ladylike.wav.
Cite this entry: “ladylike.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/ladylike. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.