Hypertext Webster Gateway: "effeminate"
From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) (web1913)
Effeminate \Ef*fem"i*nate\, v. i.
To grow womanish or weak.
In a slothful peace both courage will effeminate and
manners corrupt. --Pope.
From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) (web1913)
Effeminate \Ef*fem"i*nate\, a. [L. effeminatus, p. p. of
effeminare to make a woman of; ex out + femina a woman. See
{Feminine}, a.]
1. Having some characteristic of a woman, as delicacy,
luxuriousness, etc.; soft or delicate to an unmanly
degree; womanish; weak.
The king, by his voluptuous life and mean marriage,
became effeminate, and less sensible of honor.
--Bacon.
An effeminate and unmanly foppery. --Bp. Hurd.
2. Womanlike; womanly; tender; -- in a good sense.
Gentle, kind, effeminate remorse. --Shak.
Note: Effeminate and womanish are generally used in a
reproachful sense; feminine and womanly, applied to
women, are epithets of propriety or commendation.
From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) (web1913)
Effeminate \Ef*fem"i*nate\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. {Effeminated};
p. pr. & vb. n. {Effeminating}.]
To make womanish; to make soft and delicate; to weaken.
It will not corrupt or effeminate children's minds.
--Locke.
From WordNet (r) 1.7 (wn)
effeminate
adj 1: having unsuitable feminine qualities [syn: {emasculate}, {epicene},
{cissy}, {sissified}, {sissyish}, {sissy}]
2: characterized by excessive softness or self-indulgence; "an
effeminate civilization" [syn: {weak}]
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