Effeminates

Part of speech: verb

Definitions

1. To make or render more feminine, often referring to characteristics associated with femininity in behavior or appearance
2. To lead someone, particularly a man, to adopt traits, behaviors, or qualities traditionally seen as womanly
3. To weaken or undermine traditional masculine traits, potentially affecting societal perceptions of gender roles

Etymology: "Effeminates" is the third-person singular present form of the verb "effeminate", meaning to make someone or something more feminine. The verb traces back to Latin "effēminō", a compound of "ex-" (out, thoroughly) and "fēmina" (woman), so its core sense is to make someone womanish. It reached English through Middle English, where the adjective "effeminat" appeared first, and the verb sense developed from that adjective. The Latin root "fēmina" is the ordinary word for "woman" and gave English "female" and "feminine" through a separate route, so "effeminate" is a close relative of those more familiar words. The prefix "ex-" intensifies the idea, pushing a quality outward until it fully takes hold, which is why the word later came to carry a stronger and often pejorative charge than its Latin source did.

Synonyms: emasculates, unmanly

Antonyms: masculinizes