womanly

/ˈwʊmənli/

//ˈwʊmənli// adj

By · According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA) ·

"womanly" is a 7-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“womanly” is uncommon English (frequency #52,727 among 1,759 “W” headwords), classed as an adjective. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

#52,727
frequency rank, English
1,759
“W” headwords

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Considered typical of, stereotypical of, or appropriate to women; feminine.

Corpus desk

Index EN-womanly · womanly · English

womanly · rank #52,727 · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-RARE #52,727
  • LEN-LONG 7 letters
  • VOW-3 3 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-MID 1,759
  • PHOTO-FINISH wobbles

Nearest frequency peer: wobbles (-1 rank slots)

Read with this headword: Spelling guide for this pattern

Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.

Long-tail ranks near “womanly”

Sparse band: bars invert rank so rarer forms read shorter

corpus weight

What this shows Long-tail view: where “womanly” sits against similarly uncommon English ranks.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026
Key facts for womanly
PropertyValue
Headwordwomanly
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechAdjective
IPA/ˈwʊmənli/
Letters7
Frequency rank#52,727
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Long-tail rank of “womanly” in English

This scale runs from the tiny cluster of words that carry ordinary speech (left) to the long tail of words almost nobody reaches for (right).womanlyfalls in this rarity band:

#1#100#1K#10K#100K
← used constantlyrarely used →

Ticks step logarithmically, so each one marks a roughly tenfold drop in how often the word turns up. Rare peers in the same band: “wobbles” (#52,726), “Wittenberg” (#52,725), “Xanadu” (#52,729). Among 1,759 “W” headwords, “womanly” is #52,727. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

womanly is uncommon English at frequency #52,727 among 1,759 “W” headwords, classed as anadjective, transcribed /ˈwʊmənli/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 2 senses are on record.

No generated misspelling entries exist for womanly in our index, suggesting the orthography follows predictable English patterns. Our dataset records no confusable match here, since no other headword is close enough in sound or shape to pair with it.

Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle English womanly, wommanlich, wommanly, wommanlych, wummonlich, equivalent to woman + -ly (adjectival suffix). The correct English form is womanly, spelled W-O-M-A-N-L-Y.

Definition

  1. 1
    Considered typical of, stereotypical of, or appropriate to women; feminine.
  2. 2
    Female.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

These source excerpts show how womanly appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.

  1. I know that the sound of it moved me more even than her words, it was so very human - so very womanly.
  2. "What I mean, a woman who doesn't go in for booze and sport and cigarettes. Man gets sick of these tough flappers. Give me a womanly woman every time. As I said before, I could see at a glance that you were a thoroughly womanly woman."

Etymology

From Middle English womanly, wommanlich, wommanly, wommanlych, wummonlich, equivalent to woman + -ly (adjectival suffix).

Antonyms

masculinemalemanly

This word in other languages

femenino(Español)féminin(Français)weiblich(Deutsch)feminino(Português)

Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA); frequency ordering uses the FrequencyWords open word-frequency list (2018 English corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "womanly"?
"womanly" is spelled W-O-M-A-N-L-Y. The IPA pronunciation is /ˈwʊmənli/.
What does "womanly" mean?
As an adjective, "womanly" means: Considered typical of, stereotypical of, or appropriate to women; feminine.
How do you pronounce "womanly"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "womanly" is /ˈwʊmənli/. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What is the origin of the word "womanly"?
From Middle English womanly, wommanlich, wommanly, wommanlych, wummonlich, equivalent to woman + -ly (adjectival suffix). See the full etymology section above for more details.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Similar English words by spelling shape

Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "womanly", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 7 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

wobbles#52,726Abidjan#52,750accrual#52,755actuary#52,757

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list