Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- adjective Biology Having both female and male characteristics; hermaphroditic.
- adjective Being neither distinguishably masculine nor feminine, as in dress, appearance, or behavior.
from The Century Dictionary.
- Having two sexes; being both male and female; of the nature of a hermaphrodite; hermaphroditical.
- In botany: Having male and female flowers in the same inflorescence, as in some species of Carex. In mosses, having antheridia and archegonia in the same involucre.
- In zoology, uniting the characters of both sexes; having the parts of both sexes; being of both sexes; hermaphrodite. The androgynous condition is a very common one in invertebrate animals. The two sexes may coexist at the same time in one individual, which impregnates itself, as a snail; or two such individuals may impregnate each other, as earthworms; or one individual may be male and female at different times, developing first the product of the one sex and then that of the other.
- Having or partaking of the mental characteristics of both sexes.
- Also
androgynal .
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- adjective Uniting both sexes in one, or having the characteristics of both; being in nature both male and female; hermaphroditic.
- adjective (Bot.) Bearing both staminiferous and pistilliferous flowers in the same cluster.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- adjective Pertaining to a
feature orcharacteristic that is notdefinitively of eithersex . - adjective Possessing qualities of both
sexes .
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- adjective relating to or exhibiting both female and male sex organs but with a predominantly female appearance
- adjective having both male and female characteristics
Etymologies
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
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Examples
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Peter Filichia of The Star-Ledger in Newark, N.J., has a feature about comedian Julia Sweeney best known as the androgynous "Pat" on "Saturday Night Live" and her one-woman stage show, "Letting Go of God," in which she talks about how she became an atheist.
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(Soundbite of song from album “Empty Houses Are Lonely”) CHRISTIAN HOARD reporting: On first listen to Tom Brosseau's mostly acoustic songs, his biggest asset seems to be a voice that recalls the androgynous swoops and swoons of sensitive compatriots, like Jeff Buckley and Devendra Banhart.
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In an article about basketball player Brittney Griner, she is described as androgynous, not "model-pretty," and manly - because she's tall.
feminist blogs Jill 2010
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She may be a little tall for the role, but Jane is described as androgynous, with full lips and large eyes, which Katherine has.
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She may be a little tall for the role, but Jane is described as androgynous, with full lips and large eyes, which Katherine has.
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I just realized now how many times I've found myself zoning out in front of my work station while thinking of fondling BSNYC, not as a he or she, but some kind of androgynous muscular waif, a grimy enigma, as he/she unvelcros his/her dirty cycling shoes with her/his gritty fingers after experiencing a whole new world of pain after a race...
The Indignity of Commuting by Bicycle: The Dignity of Attending a Press Conference BikeSnobNYC 2008
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As there was nothing really new in it, well apart from saying Bill had boyish looks usually people jump on the 'androgynous' band wagon.
The Ugly Truth About Tokio Hotel: Vanity Fair Fair, Vanity 2008
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Branding was at a loss to understand why until, with an unsettling lurch, it occurred to him that she had the kind of androgynous perfection of beauty only a child could possess.
The White Ninja Lustbader, Eric 1990
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The actress - who made her directorial debut in the new movie 'Whip It', a story about a teenager who is pushed into beauty pageants by her mother before becoming a roller derby player - doesn't like being girly and often feels quite "androgynous".
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The actress - who made her directorial debut in the new movie 'Whip It', a story about a teenager who is pushed into beauty pageants by her mother before becoming a roller derby player - doesn't like being girly and often feels quite "androgynous".
News AFP 2010
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