Word.ws English Dictionary

limp-wristed

limp-wristed adjective: limp, weak by nature; lacking strength. Also the simple past of limp-wrist.

Adjective

limp-wristed (comparative more limp-wristed, superlative most limp-wristed)

  1. (derogatory, slang) Limp, weak by nature; lacking strength.
  2. (derogatory, slang) Of a man: having effeminate qualities or characteristics perceived to be homosexual in nature.
    • Given the doubts about manhood in the postwar years, a rough sport like football helped to establish a hierarchy of competing masculinities that favored the sturdy athlete over his limp-wristed counterpart, the heterosexual linebacker over the homosexual fop.1998 August, Laura Mccall, Donald Yacovone, A Shared Experience: Men, Women, and the History of Gender (Science; 41), NYU Press, →ISBN, →LCCN, →OCLC, page 331

Also used as

limp-wristed is also the simple past of limp-wrist.

Antonyms of limp-wristed

Forms of limp-wristed

comparativemore limp-wristed
superlativemost limp-wristed

Questions about limp-wristed

What does limp-wristed mean?
Limp-wristed means limp, weak by nature; lacking strength.
What part of speech is limp-wristed?
Limp-wristed is an adjective.

Words near limp-wristed in the dictionary

  1. limp reraising
  2. limp-dick
  3. limp-dickedness
  4. limp-dicks
  5. limp-wrist
  6. limp-wristed
  7. limp-wristing
  8. limp-wrists
  9. limpa
  10. limpa bread
  11. limpa breads

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: limp-wristed (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: En-au-limp-wristed.ogg.

Cite this entry: “limp-wristed.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/limp-wristed. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.