maidenhood

noun

Definition of maidenhoodnext
as in girlhood

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Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of maidenhood Even so, the belief in Mary’s life-long maidenhood is widely shared by members of the Eastern Orthodox Church and by some Lutherans. — Rebecca Coffey, Forbes, 3 Mar. 2021
Recent Examples of Synonyms for maidenhood
  1. girlhood
  2. effeminacy
  3. womanhood
Noun
  • The global scope of this novelistic narrative reach only made my sense of my American girlhood more powerful.
    — Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 26 Aug. 2026
  • Chester Dale, whose bequest forms the core of the NGA’s Cassatt holdings, favored the range of her female subjects, from girlhood and adolescence to adulthood and old age.
    — Carmen Rosenberg-Miller, Artforum, 6 Aug. 2026
Definition of girlhood
Noun
  • This horror at effeminacy echoes across Baldwin’s novels and essays.
    — Garth Greenwell, Harpers Magazine, 19 Sep. 2025
  • The researchers theorized this could be in part because of greater stigma toward effeminacy in boys than masculinity in girls.
    — Benjamin Ryan, NBC News, 4 Oct. 2023
Definition of effeminacy
Noun
  • Throughout, Kasischke’s images ricochet off one another—suggesting narrative while resisting its confines, evoking stereotypical ideas and expectations of Western womanhood only to upend them.
    — The New Yorker, New Yorker, 31 Aug. 2026
  • The result is a heady rumination on womanhood and the roles women are forced to inherit.
    — Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles Times, 31 Aug. 2026
Definition of womanhood

Browse Nearby Words

maiden
maidenhood
maidenly
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Cite this Entry

“Maidenhood.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/maidenhood. Accessed 5 Sep. 2026.

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