henpeckedadj.n.
/ˈhɛnpɛkt/, U.S. /ˈhɛnˌpɛkt/ colloquial.
A. adj.† 2. Designating a ship dominated by the captain's wife. Cf. hen frigate n. at hen n.1 Compounds 3. Obsolete.Apparently only in figurative contexts in which marriage is likened to going to sea.
1. Designating a man who is continually criticized or ordered about by his wife or female partner, or (occasionally) his mother, daughter, etc.
ΘΚΠ
society > society and the community > kinship or relationship > marriage or wedlock > married person > married man > [adjective] > relating to a husband > henpecked
wifish1607
woman-tireda1616
henpecked1660
wife-ridden1685
wife-bound1820
petticoat-governed1832
pussy-whipped1953
1660 Devils Cabinet-Counsell Discovered sig. A5 Lord Mounson, a pitiful drivelling henpeckt Lord.
a1680 S. Butler Genuine Remains (1759) II. 104 The henpect Man rides behind his Wife, and lets her wear the Spurs and govern the Reins.
1819 W. Irving Rip Van Winkle in Sketch Bk. i. 61 He was..an obedient, henpecked husband.
1920 Boston Post 30 July 15/4 We all thanked our lucky stars that we haven't you for a mother. Believe me, we all pity your poor ‘henpecked’ son from the bottom of our hearts!
1999 Wall St. Jrnl. 8 Oct. (Eastern ed.) w11/3 Clive Swift, who played the henpecked husband on ‘Keeping Up Appearances’.
2013 L. Pestilli P. de Matteis xi. 223 The henpecked artist was running away from his second wife.
ΚΠ
1671 Married Mens Feast 6 Let all Land-men that would not go to Sea in the Hen-peckt Friggot, at their first mitation into the state of Matrimony, be sure to keep the bridle in their own hands.
1695 W. Congreve Love for Love iv. i. 65 I believe he that marries you will go to Sea in a Hen-peck'd Frigat.
B. n.
With the and plural agreement. Henpecked men as a class.
ΚΠ
1711 R. Steele Spectator No. 176. ⁋5 The Hen-peckt are powerful in their Quality and Numbers.
1874 Appletons' Jrnl. 25 July 105/1 It is questionable if men of lofty character and ideal tendency would not..prefer to be ranked rather among the henpecked than the tyrants.
1978 Globe & Mail (Toronto) (Nexis) 9 Oct. One observer had the temerity to suggest that Stein had, by moving back to Scotland, joined the ranks of the hen-pecked. He based that on the well-known fact that Stein's wife was loath to leave her homeland.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, December 2019; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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adj.n.1660