womanize
/'wumənaiz/ Cách viết khác : (womanise) /'wumənaiz/
Học thuậtThân thiện
A man is known to womanize and often flirts with multiple women at social events.
Definition
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.
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.
A man is known to womanize and often flirts with multiple women at social events.
Verb
- to give a (more) feminine, effeminate, or womanly quality or appearance to
- This hairdo feminizes the man
- have amorous affairs; of men
- He has been womanizing for years