effeminacy

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

Dandyism’s persistent associations with criminality, effeminacy and homosexuality would achieve notoriety in Oscar Wilde’s 1895 trials.

From The Wall Street Journal • Jan. 15, 2026

This was defined by a cultivated or performed effeminacy, including make-up, falsetto, and the use of "camp names" and female pronouns.

From Salon • Feb. 19, 2022

Through his balletic gait and florid presentation, Mercury rubbed the nose of Live Aid’s global audience in a powerful brand of effeminacy, seducing them into adoring something they might otherwise view with contempt.

From New York Times • Nov. 9, 2018

“Well-meaning, intelligent straight people”: For Outward’s Radical issue, Alex Borinsky writes that there’s more to camp and swish and effeminacy than meets the eye.

From Slate • Oct. 31, 2018

Concerning the effeminacy of the Codridæ, see Heraclid.

From The History and Antiquities of the Doric Race, Vol. 2 of 2 by Müller, Karl Otfried