1
general::
woman
a female adult person:
• a young woman with dark brown hair
lady
a polite word for a woman – used especially when you do not know the woman, or when the person you are talking to does not know the woman:
• A glass of white wine please, for this lady here. • The young lady stood up and shook my hand.
girl
a young female person – usually used about someone younger than about twenty:
• a very pretty girl • teenage girls
female
formal a woman – used especially when you are giving information about women, for example in formal surveys and reports:
• Females account for 46% of Internet users.
relating to women
female
relating to women or girls:
• female voters • Advertisers try to sell things by using images of the female body.
feminine
used about qualities that are considered to be typical of women:
• You must not cry or show any other feminine weakness. • the ideal of feminine beauty
womanly
behaving, dressing etc in a way that is thought to be typical of or suitable for a woman – used to show approval:
• her womanly figure • the womanly virtues of compassion and patience
girly/girlie
informal behaving or dressing in a way that is thought to be typical of young girls, or suitable for a girl – often used disapprovingly:
• Stop being so girly! It's only a mouse! • a very girlie pink dress
effeminate
disapproving a man who is effeminate looks or behaves like a woman:
• His long blonde hair made him look rather effeminate. • a pale effeminate-looking young man
Longman-Thesaurus
2
general::
noun ADJ. young | middle-aged | elderly, old, older The thief tricked his way into an elderly woman's home. Older women often have difficulty conceiving. | adult, grown The little girl she remembered was now a grown woman. | married | single, unattached, unmarried | widowed | divorced | pregnant | childless | business (also businesswoman), career, professional, working | non-working | attractive, beautiful, good-looking, handsome, pretty | desirable | well-dressed | plain, ugly | motherly | hysterical | decent, good | evil, wicked | battered a hostel for battered women | the other Jean Menckes plays the president's wife and Fiona Handley plays the other woman (= the one the President is having an affair with). VERB + WOMAN depict, portray, present, show We want to change the way women are depicted in the media. | limit, reduce Women are limited to the more poorly paid jobs. Women are reduced to merely playing a passive role. PHRASES the position/role of women There were important changes in the position of women in society. | a woman of the world He saw her as a woman of the world who could offer him advice. | women's lib/liberation (becoming old-fashioned) The freedom to wear trousers became a symbol of women's liberation. | the women's movement, women's rights
Oxford Collocations Dictionary