womanhood
/ˈwʊmənhʊd
/noun [mass noun]
1The state or condition of being a woman: she was on the very brink of womanhood...
- We see Annie Allen grow from childhood to womanhood in an atmosphere conditioned by poverty, racial discrimination, parental expectations, and unhappiness.
- I have always considered them a frivolity that does nothing to enhance the condition of womanhood.
- Yet while she recognizes the limiting conditions of constructed womanhood, Brittain refuses to accept them.
Synonyms
adulthood, maturity
rare muliebrity
1.1The qualities considered to be natural to or characteristic of a woman: Mary was cultivated as an ideal of womanhood...
- True womanhood emphasized the qualities of piety, purity, maternity, submissiveness, virtue, and domesticity.
- Is this girl the type and quality of womanhood best suited to this man for a successful life?
- Also, I think you're assuming that Wittig and other lesbians/feminists want to ‘liberate’ a true, natural womanhood from cultural baggage etc.
Synonyms
womanliness, femininity, feminineness, womanly/feminine qualities
1.2Women considered collectively: half of Britain’s womanhood is dress size 14 and over...
- These comments reveal the contested space within the very image of modern womanhood in the 1920s: was it ‘wild’ to dance, play bridge and go to the theater?
- By the time the duo meet years later, however, Kajol has mutated into the quintessential image of traditional womanhood, perpetually clothed in chiffon saris and polite diffidence.
- This time we play Cupid, and what we behold is a smoother landscape with fewer peaks and valleys, a thoroughly modern image of taut contemporary womanhood.
Synonyms
women, womenfolk;
womankind, womenkind, woman;
the female sex