Definition

1. Verb (intransitive):

   • To engage in numerous casual sexual affairs with women, often habitually and without emotional commitment.
   • To pursue the company of women, especially in a hedonistic or promiscuous manner.

2. Verb (transitive, dated/rare):

   • To make effeminate; to give a womanly character or appearance to (a man).

Usage and Examples

• Intransitive Verb (Primary Modern Usage):

  • He spent his youth traveling and womanizing.
  • The celebrity was known to womanize, frequently appearing in tabloids with different dates.
  • After his divorce, he began to womanize excessively.

• Transitive Verb (Historical/Less Common Usage):

  • The critic argued that a life of luxury would womanize the once-brave soldier. (This usage is now rare and can be considered archaic or offensive.)

Advanced Usage and Notes

• The term often carries a negative connotation, implying irresponsible, exploitative, or superficial behavior towards women.
• It is typically used to describe a habitual pattern of behavior rather than a single incident.
• The British English spelling variant is womanise.

Variants and Related Words

• Womanizer (noun): A man who habitually seeks out casual affairs with women.
  • He gained a reputation as a notorious womanizer.
• Womanizing (gerund/noun): The activity or practice of being a womanizer.
  • His womanizing eventually cost him his marriage.

Synonyms

• Philander (verb): To engage in multiple casual love affairs.
• Flirt (verb): To behave as though attracted to someone, but often without serious intent. (Less intense than womanize.)
• Sow one's wild oats (idiom): To engage in youthful promiscuity or hedonism before settling down.

Antonyms

• Settle down (phrasal verb): To enter a stable, monogamous relationship.
• Be faithful (verb phrase): To remain loyal to one partner.

Related Idioms and Phrases

• To chase skirts (idiom, informal): To actively seek the company of women for sexual purposes; similar in meaning to womanize.
  • In his college years, he was more interested in chasing skirts than studying.
• To be a ladies' man (idiom): A man who enjoys and is popular with women. This can have a more neutral or positive connotation than "womanizer," sometimes implying charm without the strong negative judgment of promiscuity.
  • He was always a ladies' man, charming everyone he met.

Verb

1. to give a (more) feminine, effeminate, or womanly quality or appearance to
   • This hairdo feminizes the man
2. have amorous affairs; of men
   • He has been womanizing for years