womanlikeadj.adv.

Promptorium Parvulorum (Harl. 221) 154/2 Femynyne, or woman lyke, Muliebris.

1550 R. Crowley Way to Wealth sig. Aviii^v Fingered ladies, whose womanlike behauiour..ought to be a lighte to al women.

1597 M. Drayton Englands Heroicall Epist. Notes f. 20 ^v His behauiour and attire euer so womanlike, to please the eye of his lasciuious Prince.

1624 J. Smith Gen. Hist. Virginia 31 Scorning to be seene in any woman-like exercise.

1647 H. Hexham Copious Eng. & Netherduytch Dict. Womanlike, delicate and tender.

1741 Mem. Martinus Scriblerus 44 in A. Pope Wks. II Let him be taught to put off..all that enchanting woman-like behaviour, that has made him the charm of his own eyes.

1796 Lady & Gentleman's Pocket Mag. 1 153 By their womanlike motions they imitate a sex, which nature has denied to men.

1825 W. Scott Talisman i, in Tales Crusaders IV. 6 Ashamed at being surprised in a womanlike expression of sorrow, Sir Kenneth dashed his tears indignantly aside.

1880 L. Wallace Ben-Hur 516 The tearful woman-like face of the Christ.

1909 J. M. Forman Jason ix. 101 If you will pardon my saying it,..your attitude is just a little womanlike. You put away reason for something vaguely intuitive.

1948 N.Y. Amsterdam News 4 Dec. 11 She emphasized her womanlike appearance by..the expert manner in which she used make-up.

1993 A. R. Siddons Hill Towns (1994) xiii. 348 Lava pouring down the slopes, settling in the tender, womanlike curves of the valleys.

1565 T. Cooper Thesaurus Mulieraria manus, a company of womanlyke and effeminate persons.

1583 A. Golding tr. J. Calvin Serm. on Deuteronomie cxxvi. 773/2 We must first of all see that men be so apparelled as they become not womanlike.

1638 R. Younge Drunkard's Char. 63 Had hee a jewell as rich as tenne Lordships, or as Cleopatra's was, that womanlike swaggerer, his throate shall have it.

1700 J. Jones Myst. Opium Reveal'd xv. 189 Modest and Sheepish Boys grow much more assured, bold, and..Manlike, upon Puberty; and Girls grow more Womanlike in their Dispositions.

1719 Free-thinker No. 148. 2/1 Womanlike in her Motion; Learned, and of Greek Extraction.

1832 J. Morier Zohrab (1833) xxvi. 290 We despised the southern Persians, womanlike-men, as we called them.

1878 Contemp. Rev. Feb. 521 Trees were credited with woman-like inhabitants capable of doing good and ill.

1913 E. Hungerford Gertrude xv. 214 It [sc. her ability] was manlike, while Gertrude, herself, remained the most womanlike girl whom he had ever met.

1976 Texas Monthly Feb. 58/3 A Brazilian farmer, who claimed to have been..forced..to have intergalactic intercourse with a womanlike creature.

1993 D. Rosen Changing Fictions of Masculinity vi. 194 Although he and they each conceive of women differently, their fear is also in part a fear of being womanlike.

c1450 Alphabet of Tales (1905) II. 365 Sho was not ferd for swerd nor wownd, nor wepid wommanlyke.

1558 T. Phaer tr. Virgil Seuen First Bks. Eneidos iv. sig. I.iv^v This pranking Paris fyne..With grekishe wymple pynkyd, womanlyke.

1584 R. Greene Gwydonius f. 20 At last womanlike, she found her tongue the best wepon, and with that she plagued him in this sorte.

1635 Life Long Meg of Westm. (1872) 43 She..dressed him full womanlike.

1743 P. Francis & W. Dunkin tr. Horace Odes (new ed.) I. i. xxxvii. 28 But she a nobler fate explored, Nor woman-like beheld the deathful sword.

1857 W. Collins Dead Secret II. v. iv. 141 ‘Of course,’ cried Rosamond, looking, womanlike, straight on to the purpose she had in view.

1898 ‘H. S. Merriman’ Roden's Corner xxix. 303 He would not, it appeared, sit down without her permission. And, womanlike, she gave it.

1946 S. J. Perelman Keep it Crisp 44 He implores Diana not to go hunting unescorted in future, but, womanlike, she disregards him and sallies forth.

1964 S. Bellow Herzog (1965) 63 She jumped at him with her fists, not pummelling womanlike, but swinging like a street fighter with her knuckles.

2009 Sunshine Coast (Queensland) Daily (Nexis) 9 May 34 Womanlike, Venus changes into evening dress at a time of her choosing.