tomboyish

as in masculine
having qualities or traits that are traditionally considered inappropriate for a girl or woman her father thought that ice hockey was a little too tomboyish for her, but her mother and older brother encouraged her to take it up

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Example Sentences

Recent Examples of Synonyms for tomboyish
Adjective
  • The ads also tease the Dior Privé bag, a masculine interpretation of the slouchy bag trend sweeping womenswear.
    Joelle Diderich, Footwear News, 3 Apr. 2025
  • Beset by coughing fits, alcoholism, and a healthy dose of self-loathing, Kilmer’s portrayal emphasized the human frailty of an Old West legend over masculine bravado.
    Joseph Hudak, Rolling Stone, 2 Apr. 2025
Adjective
  • The new girl’s unladylike bravado ensures that she will be asked to board with the Brown girl.
    Chris Bohjalian, Washington Post, 17 Aug. 2023
  • In fact, one of the choicest bites of the entire meal was an unladylike gnaw of the generous gristle on a bone followed by a spoonful of marrow-thickened soup, bobbing with cubes of cleansing daikon.
    Jiayang Fan, The New Yorker, 2 Sep. 2022
Adjective
  • Dior’s collection referenced the H-line created by its founder Christian Dior for Fall-Winter 1954-1955 – a controversial silhouette at the time as its flattened shape appeared, for some, unfeminine.
    Alice Pfeiffer, CNN, 28 Jan. 2025
  • The intention behind this final postcard may have been, yet again, to paint the fight for suffrage as absurd, to make suffragists seem like willful, unfeminine animals.
    Natalie Kinkade, JSTOR Daily, 25 Sep. 2024
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

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Cite this Entry

“Tomboyish.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/tomboyish. Accessed 16 Apr. 2025.

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