ladylike

«ladylike» in Mova's school dictionary: Ladylike describes behaviour that people used to think… — its meaning for a pupil, its sense in the lessons and examples, with 1 sentence of Mova's corpora that use it.

part of speech

adjective

meaning for a pupil

1) Ladylike describes behaviour that people used to think was polite, quiet and proper for a woman or girl, such as sitting neatly and speaking softly. tree →

2) (often old-fashioned or critical) Saying something is "not ladylike" was used to stop girls running, shouting or getting dirty. tree →

sense in the lessons

Met in older stories and in lessons on fairness and gender. It tells the reader what some people expected of girls; modern lessons point out these rules were unfair, and that good manners are for everyone. Phrases: «not very ladylike», «ladylike behaviour», «sit in a ladylike way».

examples

• Great-Aunt Edith said climbing trees wasn't ladylike. tree →
• She gave a very unladylike burp and laughed. tree →
• The girls in the old book were taught to be ladylike. tree →
• Maddie didn't care about being ladylike; she wanted to win. tree →
• Her grandmother had ladylike manners and a soft voice. tree →
• "That's not ladylike!" "Neither is it gentlemanly – it's just rude!" tree →

note

Adjective, not an adverb, even though it ends in -like. Opposite: unladylike. The male word is gentlemanly. Trap: «ladylike» is often a judgement about girls; kindness and good manners matter the same for boys and girls.

In the corpora

• Her mum used to say «be ladylike» when Lily ran in the playground, until Lily asked what «ladylike» means.

Trees and pragmatics

Every meaning and example of «ladylike» parsed by Mova, each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.