Definitions
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
- adj. Characteristic of a lady; well-bred.
- adj. Appropriate for or becoming to a lady. See Synonyms at female.
- adj. Unduly sensitive to matters of propriety or decorum.
- adj. Lacking virility or strength.
Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
- Like a lady in any respect; refined; well-bred: courteous in manner.
- Applied to men, affected; effeminate.
- Synonyms Womanly, etc. See feminine.
Wiktionary
- adj. Of or connected with the appearance or behaviour of a well-mannered woman.
GNU Webster's 1913
- adj. Like a lady in appearance or manners; well-bred.
- adj. Becoming or suitable to a lady.
- adj. Delicate; tender; feeble; effeminate.
WordNet 3.0
- adj. befitting a woman of good breeding
Etymologies
- lady + -like (Wiktionary)
Examples
“The word ladylike wasn’t in Gaia’s personal dictionary.”
“The wife lives to realize the ideal of the "ladylike" -- lady she resigns to the patrician -- and she insists upon a servant, however small.”
“She has what I can only describe as a ladylike laugh, lips slightly parted, more a smile than a laugh.”
“It may not have been what my mother would have called ladylike, but I missed it.”
“But you could not think of these things pertaining to the Walking Woman, and if there were ever any truth in the exemption from offense residing in a frame of behavior called ladylike, it should have been inoperative here.”
“When first we knew Daisy we used to call her the White Mouse, and her brother had all the appearance of being one too, but you know how untruthful appearances are, or else it was that we taught him happier things, for he certainly turned out quite different in the end; and she was not a bad sort of kid, though we never could quite cure her of wanting to be "ladylike" -- that is the beastliest word there is, I think, and Albert's uncle says so, too.”
New Treasure Seekers or, The Bastable Children in Search of a Fortune
“And then there was Prada, which was about taking ladylike things and making them more innocent, which is apparently completely different from taking innocent things and making them more ladylike, which is so two years ago.”
“Mr. Wu, with his polished, lace-trimmed collections, often hears his work described as "ladylike," but his show earlier in the day was a bit risky in that it included some mighty short shorts and transparent outerwear.”
“They include important thou-shalt-nots such as shalt not murder, shalt not steal, shalt not lie and cheat, but they also include all those courtesies one might call ladylike and gentlemanly conduct.”
Lists
These user-created lists contain the word ‘ladylike’.
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Femmesque
Curious words having to do with women: positive or negative; feminine, observational, technical, weird, stupid, crass, etc. I loathe some of these words but I'm using this list as a catch-all... ev...
mittelschmerz, gynotikolobomasso..., ingenue, uxorious, hogminny, quim, suffragette, damsel, madame, parturient, testatrix, mediatrix and 188 more...
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amsstory's list
pretentious, delectable, egomaniacal, lionize, titillate, nebulous, obfuscation, ostentatious, wry, precipice, ethereal, echo and 150 more...
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Seven
turnskin, therianthrope, mimic, mimical, mimetic, animagus, selkie, incantatory, cynanthrope, therianthropy, nagual, pooka and 200 more...
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Minendi's list
These words I would use, if I created my whole vocabulary from beginning
Tweets
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