femmen.adj.
/fɛm/, U.S. /fɛm/ Chiefly colloquial.
A. n.
1. A woman; a wife; spec. (chiefly North American, esp. in the entertainment industry and in journalistic use) a young woman, a girl. Cf. sense B. 1 and feme n.Also in many compounds and phrases deriving from French: see cherchez la femme phr., femme du monde n., femme fatale n., etc.In later journalistic use frequently in alliterative phrases, perhaps after femme fatale.
ΘΚΠ
the world > people > person > woman > [noun]
wifeeOE
womaneOE
womanOE
queanOE
brideOE
viragoc1000
to wifeOE
burdc1225
ladyc1225
carlinec1375
stotc1386
marec1387
pigsneyc1390
fellowa1393
piecec1400
femalea1425
goddessa1450
fairc1450
womankindc1450
fellowessa1500
femininea1513
tega1529
sister?1532
minikinc1540
wyec1540
placket1547
pig's eye1553
hen?1555
ware1558
pussy?a1560
jade1560
feme1566
gentlewoman1567
mort1567
pinnacea1568
jug1569
rowen1575
tarleather1575
mumps1576
skirt1578
piga1586
rib?1590
puppy1592
smock1592
maness1594
sloy1596
Madonna1602
moll1604
periwinkle1604
Partlet1607
rib of man1609
womanship?1609
modicum1611
Gypsy1612
petticoata1616
runniona1616
birda1627
lucky1629
she-man1640
her1646
lost rib1647
uptails1671
cow1696
tittup1696
cummer17..
wife1702
she-woman1703
person1704
molly1706
fusby1707
goody1708
riding hood1718
birdie1720
faggot1722
piece of goods1727
woman body1771
she-male1776
biddy1785
bitch1785
covess1789
gin1790
pintail1792
buer1807
femme1814
bibi1816
Judy1819
a bit (also bundle) of muslin1823
wifie1823
craft1829
shickster?1834
heifer1835
mot1837
tit1837
Sitt1838
strap1842
hay-bag1851
bint1855
popsy1855
tart1864
woman's woman1868
to deliver the goods1870
chapess1871
Dona1874
girl1878
ladykind1878
mivvy1881
dudess1883
dudette1883
dudine1883
tid1888
totty1890
tootsy1895
floozy1899
dame1902
jane1906
Tom1906
frail1908
bit of stuff1909
quim1909
babe1911
broad1914
muff1914
manhole1916
number1919
rossie1922
bit1923
man's woman1928
scupper1935
split1935
rye mort1936
totsy1938
leg1939
skinny1941
Richard1950
potato1957
scow1960
wimmin1975
womyn1975
womxn1991
the world > people > person > young person > young woman > [noun]
daughterOE
maidenOE
young womanOE
mayc1175
burdc1225
maidc1275
wenchc1290
file1303
virginc1330
girla1375
damselc1380
young ladya1393
jilla1425
juvenclec1430
young person1438
domicellea1464
quean1488
trull1525
pulleta1533
Tib1533
kittyc1560
dell1567
gillian1573
nymph1584
winklota1586
frotion1587
yuffrouw1589
pigeon1592
tit1599
nannicock1600
muggle1608
gixy1611
infanta1611
dilla1627
tittiea1628
whimsy1631
ladykin1632
stammel1639
moggie1648
zitellaa1660
baggagea1668
miss1668
baby1684
burdie1718
demoiselle1720
queanie?1800
intombi1809
muchacha1811
jilt1816
titter1819
ragazza1827
gouge1828
craft1829
meisie1838
sheila1839
sixteenc1840
chica1843
femme1846
muffin1854
gel1857
quail1859
kitten1870
bud1880
fräulein1883
sub-debutante1887
sweet-and-twenty1887
flapper1888
jelly1889
queen1894
chick1899
pusher1902
bit of fluff1903
chicklet1905
twist and twirl1905
twist1906
head1913
sub-deb1916
tabby1916
mouse1917
tittie1918
chickie1919
wren1920
bim1922
nifty1923
quiff1923
wimp1923
bride1924
job1927
junior miss1927
hag1932
tab1932
sort1933
palone1934
brush1941
knitting1943
teenybopper1966
weeny-bopper1972
Valley Girl1982
1814 Ld. Byron Jrnl. 16 Jan. in Lett. & Jrnls. (1974) III. 241 Divorce ruins the poor femme.
1846 ‘Lord Chief Baron’ Swell's Night Guide (new ed.) 34 The polka is greatly in favour with the femmes of this lumber.
1863 Let. Oct. in T. P. Lowry Story Soldiers wouldn't Tell (1994) iii. 34 These two femmes were carrying on quite a lucrative trade.
1899 T. Hall Tales 39 I used to think the femmes at the summer hops at West Point were the prettiest women in the world.
1928 J. P. McEvoy Show Girl iv. 52 Eight femmes and a pair of male hoofers take up the burden when she is off.
1944 Amer. Speech 19 310/2 The organizer of a Brush-off-club ‘made up of mournful soldiers who were given the hemlock cup by femmes back home’.
1969 Billboard 16 Aug. 82/2 New trio of femmes from New York area..with a happy beat rhythm item that should garner play and sales.
2003 BusinessWeek Jan. 27 85/1 The American family has something new going for it: the femmes who finance. After only three decades.., one in three wives now outearns her husband.
2. Originally U.S.
a. Frequently derogatory. An effeminate homosexual man. Cf. sense B. 2a.
ΘΚΠ
the world > people > person > man > [noun] > effeminate man
badlingeOE
milksopc1390
cockneyc1405
malkina1425
molla1425
weakling1526
tenderling1541
softling1543
niceling1549
woman-man1567
cocknel1570
effeminate1583
androgyne1587
meacock1590
mammaday1593
hermaphrodite1594
midwife1596
nimfadoro1600
night-sneaker1611
mock-mana1625
nan1670
she-man1675
petit maître1711
old woman1717
master-miss1754
Miss Molly1754
molly1785
squaw1805
mollycoddle1823
Miss Nancy1824
mollycot1826
molly mop1829
poof1833
Margery?c1855
ladyboy1857
girl1862
Mary Ann1868
sissy1879
milk1881
pretty-boy1881
nancy1888
poofter1889
Nancy Dawson1890
softie1895
puff1902
pussy1904
Lizzie1905
nance1910
quean1910
maricon1921
pie-face1922
bitch1923
Jessie1923
lily1923
tapette1923
pansy1926
nancy boy1927
nelly1931
femme1932
ponce1932
queerie1933
palone1934
queenie1935
girlie-man1940
swish1941
puss1942
wonk1945
mother1947
candy-ass1953
twink1953
cream puff1958
pronk1959
swishy1959
limp wrist1960
pansy-ass1963
weeny1963
poofteroo1966
mo1968
shim1973
twinkie1977
woofter1977
cake boy1992
hermaphrodite-
the world > physical sensation > sexual relations > sexual orientation > homosexuality > [noun] > a homosexual person > male
badlingeOE
nan1670
molly1708
Miss Molly1754
Miss Nancy1824
molly mop1829
poof1833
Margery?c1855
Mary Ann1868
pretty-boy1881
cocksucker1885
poofter1889
queer1894
fruit1895
fairy1896
homosexualist1898
puff1902
pussy1904
nance1910
quean1910
girl1912
faggot1913
mouser1914
queen1919
fag1921
gay boy1921
maricon1921
pie-face1922
bitch1923
Jessie1923
tapette1923
pansy1926
nancy boy1927
nelly1931
femme1932
ponce1932
punk1933
queerie1933
gobbler1934
jocker1935
queenie1935
iron1936
freak1941
swish1941
flit1942
tonk1943
wonk1945
mother1947
fruitcake1952
Mary1953
twink1953
swishy1959
limp wrist1960
arse bandit1961
leather man1961
booty bandit1962
ginger beer1964
bummer1965
poofteroo1966
shirtlifter1966
battyman1967
dick-sucker1968
mo1968
a friend of Dorothy1972
shim1973
gaylord1976
twinkie1977
woofter1977
bender1986
knob jockey1989
batty boy1992
cake boy1992
1932 ‘R. Scully’ Scarlet Pansy xii. 354 They drew themselves closer together as a femme pushed in beside Clarence and tried ‘to make him’.
2001 Guardian 27 Jan. 22/2 He was an old-school masculine gay... No ‘fem’ he.
2017 @dylanj_2001 4 Oct. in twitter.com (O.E.D. Archive) He's one of those gays who try to look and act masc but he's a femme at heart.
b. A lesbian whose appearance, behaviour, identity, etc., is regarded as feminine. Frequently in explicit or implied contrast with butch. Cf. sense B. 2b.Sometimes spec. in the context of a lesbian couple: a partner who takes on a more submissive or passive role (either sexually or in a more general sense), which may be thought of as analogous to that traditionally or stereotypically associated with the female in a heterosexual relationship.
ΘΚΠ
the world > physical sensation > sexual relations > sexual orientation > homosexuality > [noun] > a homosexual person > female > whose appearance, behaviour, or identity is regarded as traditionally feminine
bitch1923
Margery1936
femme1947
Marge1957
mom1957
lipstick lesbian1983
1947 Vice Versa Nov. 10 The word ‘femme’, which is common in gay parlance and synonymous with ‘fluff’, is more suitable, I think.
1955 ‘A. Aldrich’ We walk Alone iv. 38 Ideally, she is kept by another stereotyped lesbian, the fem.
1996 Guardian 21 Aug. (Society section) 2/5 The counsellor..had strong stereotypes about ‘butch and femme’ relationships. She kept intimating that I was the femme and Susan was the butch.
2002 Time Out N.Y. 9 May 119/3 Although the party attracts a wide array of women, from ‘androdykes’ to motorcycle mavens, there's no doubt that foxy femmes rule.
2013 B. R. Rich New Queer Cinema vi. 55 Stephanie recalls pragmatically switching from femme to butch after an abusive relationship.
B. adj.
1. Chiefly North American. Esp. in the entertainment industry and in journalistic use: of or relating to a femme; designating a femme (sense A. 1). Also more generally: female, feminine.
ΘΚΠ
the world > people > person > woman > [adjective]
femalea1382
womanisha1393
faira1450
women's-kinsc1450
feminatea1533
womankind?c1570
womenkind1571
sex1700
mollyish1801
petticoated1824
femme1925
1925 Variety 8 Apr. 40/3 The star looks okay for the femme trade, but he won't make a hit with the men. His hair is combed too carefully.
1926 Variety 25 Aug. 55/2 A femme table worker in a local cabaret of little or no repute.
1952 J. Lait & L. Mortimer U.S.A. Confidential ii. xxi. 247 We found the femme pulchritude above average.
1984 Washington Post (Nexis) 30 Sept. h16 Los Angeles' best femme rockers, the Bangles, hold forth at the 9:30 club.
2007 T. R. Williamson Fly Solo 96/1 For those women who love femme power, you'll love this self-guided walking tour of Marie Curie's life.
2. Originally U.S.
a. Frequently derogatory. Of a man (esp. a homosexual man): effeminate.
ΘΚΠ
the world > life > sex and gender > female > effeminacy > [adjective]
womanly?c1225
ferbleta1300
effeminatea1393
nicea1393
softc1450
manlessa1529
unmanly1534
cockney1573
effeminated1580
unmanlikea1586
milky1602
enervate1603
womanizing1615
emasculate1622
womanized1624
softly1643
womanlish1647
unmasculine1649
emollid1656
ladylike1656
enervated1660
emasculated1701
petticoated1708
tea-faced1728
effeminized1789
invirile1870
epicene1881
sissyish1889
sissified1898
devirilized1901
cockless1902
camp1909
pansy1929
campy1932
queenly1933
poncy1937
pansyish1941
swishy1941
moffie1954
poofy1956
femme1963
poofed-up1964
minty1965
ponced-up1970
lavender1979
1963 J. Rechy City of Night ii. 105 I know the scene: Chuck the masculine cowboy and Miss Destiny the femme queen.
1972 Sat. Rev. (U.S.) 12 Feb. 24 Today's homosexual can be..manly (‘stud’) or womanly (‘fem’).
1979 J. Rechy Rushes v. 78 Was that the cowboy who turned femme so quickly?
1994 Post-Standard (Syracuse, N.Y.) 15 Apr. d11/7 (advt.) Gay white male, 20, seeks someone special... I'm very femme.
2011 L. Sales Past Perfect iv. 32 Two girls and a femme guy who had played the doo-wop girls in our community theater's spring production of Little Shop of Horrors.
b. Of a lesbian: that is a femme (sense A. 2b); having an appearance, behaviour, identity, etc., which is regarded as feminine. Cf. femmy adj. 2b.
ΚΠ
1964 Lavender Lexicon Fem, short for feminine. This is the common expression of the lesbian denoting the submissive role.
1990 Gay Times Dec. (Centre section) 1/2 I would like to meet another bisexual female or a very femme lesbian, view to a permanent relationship.
2000 P. Agbabi Transformatrix 74 Hans liked her women forward, femme and fun to be with, and Wanda was all three.
2015 Observer (Nexis) 5 Apr. I'm confused about this recurring issue of whether people find it difficult to accept so-called ‘femme’ lesbians, because they look ‘too heterosexual’.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, June 2018; most recently modified version published online June 2022).
<
n.adj.1814