hoydenish

as in masculine
having qualities or traits that are traditionally considered inappropriate for a girl or woman a designer whose eclectic spring line paired hoydenish work boots with frilly skirts

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Example Sentences

Recent Examples of Synonyms for hoydenish
Adjective
  • Gourmand scents are those that are literally rooted in the smell of certain foods, including sweet notes like vanilla and caramel, savory notes like coffee and almond, fruit notes, and even masculine ones such as amber and woods.
    Kaitlyn Yarborough, Southern Living, 28 Feb. 2025
  • Notably, Catullus switches from using masculine adjectives to feminine ones at the very moment of Attis’ self-castration.
    Tom Sapsford, The Conversation, 24 Feb. 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
Adjective
  • For one thing, male comedians still get the majority of stand-up bookings and plum TV comedy-writing gigs.
    Emma Specter, Vogue, 8 Mar. 2025
  • To complement these ladies navigating a sea of business attire by sexing it up with insouciance (as well as micro hemlines and plenty of sheer) were her male coworkers who dabbled in a bit of New Romantic touches.
    Roxanne Robinson, Forbes, 8 Mar. 2025
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

“Hoydenish.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/hoydenish. Accessed 12 Mar. 2025.

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