- male
- male adj Male, masculine, manly, manlike, mannish, manful, virile are comparable when meaning of, characteristic of, or like a male, especially of the human species.Male (opposed to female) applies to animals and plants as well as to human beings and stresses the fact of sex{
a male tiger
}{a male willow tree
}{male children
}{a male choir
}Masculine (opposed to feminine) alone of these words may imply grammatical gender{masculine nouns and pronouns
}but it characteristically applies to features, attributes, or qualities which belong to men rather than to women{he was a big, active, masculine creature— Deland
}{the masculine character lying behind the lofty idealism of Sung painting— Binyon
}{his poetry is masculine, plain, concentrated, and energetic— Landor
}{it's a masculine sort of town . . . with solidity rather than style, dignity rather than sparkle, graciousness rather than grace— Joseph
}Masculine is sometimes interchangeable with male{the masculine part of the audience
}{although this is largely a masculine disease, about 5 per cent of the patients are women— Fishbeiri
}Manly (often opposed to boyish or, from another point of view, to womanly) is used to qualify whatever evidences the qualities of a fully developed man{manly virtues
}It often specifically suggests the finer qualities of a man (as courage, frankness, and independence) or the physical characters and skills which come with maturity; it is applicable not only to men but to boys{his big manly voice, turning again toward childish treble— Shak.
}{what more manly exercise than hunting?— Walton
}{it was amusing to watch the manly coolness with which the announcement was taken— Meredith
}Manlike (often opposed to womanlike) is more apt to suggest characteristically masculine qualities or, especially, foibles{manlike bluntness
}{from long association with men she had learnt a manlike reticence— H. S. Scott
}Often manlike suggests reference to man in the more general sense of the word and therefore means little more than human or like human beings{there were a dozen or more of the hairy manlike creatures upon the ground— Blue Book
}Mannish (often contrasted with womanish or effeminate)applies chiefly to women or their dress, gait, and manners, when they suggest masculinity rather than femininity{a woman impudent and mannish grown— Shak.
}{a mannish costume
}{those who dislike . . . mannish headgear, might try his simple but feminine small hats— Lois Long
}Manful differs from manly chiefly in its greater stress on sturdiness and resoluteness{a manful effort to gain self-control
}{his life has been one manful struggle against poverty— Trollope
}Virile (a stronger word than masculine and opposed to puerile or, in specific sense, to impotent) suggests such qualities of fully developed manhood as aggressiveness, masterfulness, forcefulness, and in a specific sense, procreativeness. It differs from manly and manful in being applied only to mature men{virile controversialists— Inge
}{a virile style
}{ye chiefly, virile both to think and feel, deep-chested Chapman and firm-footed Ben— J. R. Lowell
}{the virile story of a little man, his big wife, and his bigger bull— Atlantic
}Antonyms: femaleContrasted words: feminine, womanly, womanlike, womanish, ladylike (see FEMALE)
New Dictionary of Synonyms. 2014.
