Meaning & use
demasculate
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Meaning
verbtransitiveformal
To make a man feel or appear less masculine, often by undermining his manliness or social role.
Grammar: Takes an object: demasculate someone. Often used in the passive: be demasculated by something.
Patterns
- demasculate someone
- be demasculated by something
The constant criticism from his peers seemed to demasculate him in front of the group.
Some men feel demasculated when they are unable to fulfill traditional provider roles.
The film portrays a character who is demasculated by a society that values aggression.
Word forms
| third person singular | demasculates |
|---|---|
| past tense | demasculated |
| past participle | demasculated |
| -ing form | demasculating |
Common combinations
- feel demasculated
- He felt demasculated after losing his job.
- be demasculated by
- She was demasculated by the constant jokes at her expense.
- demasculating experience
- For many, unemployment is a demasculating experience.
Synonyms and how they differ
- emasculate
- Emasculate is more common and can also mean to castrate literally; demasculate is narrower and focuses on social or psychological masculinity.
- unman
- Unman is literary and suggests a loss of courage or strength; demasculate is more clinical and gender-focused.
Opposites
Word family
- demasculation noun
- The act or process of making someone feel less masculine.
Commonly confused: demasculate or emasculate?
demasculate vs emasculate
Emasculate is more common and can mean literal castration; demasculate is usually about social or psychological masculinity.
Practice
Choose the correct sentence:
Choose one answer.
Demasculate is transitive and takes a direct object without a preposition. The other options incorrectly insert 'to', 'by', or 'with'.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “demasculate”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.