androgynous
/anˈdrɒdʒɪnəs
/adjective
1Partly male and partly female in appearance; of indeterminate sex: a stunningly androgynous dancer he used surgery and cosmetics to make his face look pasty and bizarrely androgynous...
- It was confirmed that the gender of Casey was indeed male, despite his androgynous and ever-youthful appearance.
- A celebrity in his own right for his androgynous appearance and interesting personality, his works are defined by uniquely loose and symmetrical patterns.
- With her strong nose and thin, rangy frame, she's still androgynous, but her appearance, 30 years on, now has something of a ‘ragged glory’ aura.
1.1 dated Having the physical characteristics of both sexes; hermaphrodite.
Derivatives
androgynously
- He stands 6'5" and is androgynously thin.
- Universally dark-haired, skinny and androgynously pretty, The Organ look at first sight like a female Strokes.
- She appears onstage with short hair, dressed androgynously in pants and a loose shirt.
androgyny
/ noun ...- What's wrong with a little - or a lot of - androgyny anyway?
- If androgyny proved unattainable in a small socialist society whose citizens self-selected for radical feminist convictions, how could one bring it about in contemporary America, where most people don't want it?
- The Melbourne Writers Centre is dominated by women who will only tolerate strangely docile feminised men, who build towards an androgyny and collaborate in a general ‘dumbing down’ of the male.
Origin
Early 17th century: from Latin androgynus (see androgyne) + -ous.