masculine
/ˈmæskjəlɪn/ (bre, ipa) · /ˈmæskjəlɪn/ (ame, ipa) · /ˈma-skyə-lən/ (ame, mw)
masculine — adjective
- masculinepositive
- more masculinecomparative
- most masculinesuperlative
1. describes a person whose appearance, behaviour, or qualities are thought to be t
describes a person whose appearance, behaviour, or qualities are thought to be typical of men — for example, being physically strong, confident, or not showing much emotion.
Theo has a deep, masculine voice that carries well across the room.
collocation: deep masculine voice
Javier's grandfather taught him that being masculine means protecting your family.
Fatima's job as a construction manager challenges old ideas about what is masculine work.
Hana described her brother's style as traditionally masculine, with dark suits and short hair.
- feminine
describes qualities or appearance society links to women; the direct opposite
- effeminate
only used for men who are seen as having feminine traits; often carries a negative judgement
用法筆記
Often describes appearance or behaviour, and can be applied to anyone — not only men. A woman described as 'masculine' wears or acts in a style society links to men. Compare 'manly', which is almost never used for women.
常見錯誤
2. relating to the class of nouns, pronouns, and adjectives in some languages that
relating to the class of nouns, pronouns, and adjectives in some languages that are considered neither feminine nor neuter and often have special word endings.
In French, adjectives must take a masculine or feminine form depending on the noun.
grammatical agreement: adjective takes masculine or feminine form
Ingrid is learning German and finds the masculine noun endings especially difficult.
collocation: masculine noun endings
Dmitri explained that in Russian, the word for 'table' belongs to the masculine class.
Ananya was surprised that Hindi marks the word for 'moon' as masculine.
用法筆記
Only relevant in languages that divide nouns into gender classes. Not to be confused with 'male', which describes biological sex. A 'masculine noun' in French (e.g. 'le soleil') is simply a noun that belongs to that grammatical class — it does not mean the object is male.
常見錯誤
masculine — noun
1. the group of nouns, pronouns, and adjectives in a language that are considered n
the group of nouns, pronouns, and adjectives in a language that are considered neither feminine nor neuter; the masculine gender as a category.
The grammar book marks each noun as masculine, feminine, or neuter.
three-way classification: masculine, feminine, neuter
The teacher asked the class to name five French nouns that belong to the masculine.
Kojo struggled to remember which Arabic nouns take the masculine plural form.
Students of Spanish must decide whether each new noun is masculine or feminine.
用法筆記
Typically used with 'the' ('the masculine') to refer to the entire class. In language textbooks, nouns are often labelled 'm.' for masculine. Compare with 'masculine' as an adjective, which describes a single noun's gender rather than the whole category.
2. the set of qualities, behaviours, and physical features that a particular societ
the set of qualities, behaviours, and physical features that a particular society expects or associates with being a man — for example, strength, independence, or emotional restraint.
The documentary examines how ideas of the masculine have changed since the 1950s.
collocation: ideas of the masculine
Omar feels that the masculine should include kindness, not just strength.
Chidi's father taught him that the masculine is about taking responsibility for your actions.
Some men feel trapped by society's narrow definition of the masculine.
- femininity
the set of qualities, behaviours, and roles associated with women in a given society
用法筆記
Common in social science, cultural criticism, and personal development writing. Often paired with adjectives like 'traditional', 'toxic', 'positive', or 'modern' to describe different views of male roles. The uncountable noun 'masculinity' is more frequent than this countable sense.