Word.ws English Dictionary

no way to treat a lady

no way to treat a lady noun: rude, insensitive, or harmful behavior, especially when directed toward a female.

Noun

no way to treat a lady (uncountable)

  1. (figuratively, humorous, sometimes) Rude, insensitive, or harmful behavior, especially when directed toward a female.
    • I began to be sensible the liberty Mr. Bloodmoney was taking was neither civil nor manly—nay, on the contrary, that it was indecorous and brutal; and that it became me to rescue the affrighted beauty from his clutches. . . . I ran to her assistance; and, not knowing in what better way to proceed, I...1839, Robert Montgomery Bird, The Adventures of Robin Day, published 1877, page 122
    • Otto Will said it was no way to treat his pet dog; his wife said it was no way to treat a lady. . . . It all came about when Otto took his pet dog to bed with him. Mrs. Will kicked the dog underneath the covers and at the pet's yelp, Otto awoke and beat his wife.1934 July 10, “Flashes of Life”, in Prescott Evening Courier, retrieved 31 Oct 2013, page 6

Examples of no way to treat a lady in a sentence

  • The filly got about 10 feet out and decided that was no way to treat a lady.1969 May 24, “Lady Balks”, in Spokane Daily Chronicle, retrieved 16 Aug 2009, page 8:
  • That ain't no way to treat a lady / No way to treat your baby / Your woman, your friend1975, Harriet Schock, “Ain't No Way to Treat a Lady”, performed by Helen Reddy:

Questions about no way to treat a lady

What does no way to treat a lady mean?
No way to treat a lady means rude, insensitive, or harmful behavior, especially when directed toward a female.
How do you use no way to treat a lady in a sentence?
The filly got about 10 feet out and decided that was no way to treat a lady.
What part of speech is no way to treat a lady?
No way to treat a lady is a noun.

Words near no way to treat a lady in the dictionary

  1. no use
  2. no wave
  3. no way
  4. no way Jose
  5. no way José
  6. no way to treat a lady
  7. no way, Jose
  8. no way, José
  9. no ways
  10. no where
  11. no while

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: no way to treat a lady (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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Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-no way to treat a lady.wav.

Cite this entry: “no way to treat a lady.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/no_way_to_treat_a_lady. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.