adjective
Other Word Forms
- matronliness noun
Etymology
Origin of matronly
Explanation
If someone describes you as matronly, they think you look or act like a middle-aged woman. So, if someone calls your dress matronly and you think it's hip, you may be sadly mistaken. It's never a compliment to call someone matronly, as it brings to mind all kinds of stereotypes about being an adult woman, particularly one who's married and has kids. In fact, matronly comes from matron, which today primarily means "female prison warden," but which once meant "married woman," especially one who is respectable, unadventurous, and mature.
Vocabulary lists containing matronly
The Awakening
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Novel Study: The Awakening, Chapters 1–19
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The Red Car to Hollywood
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
She treats herself to a belted dress accurately described as Shirley Temple-meets-not-fully-deprogrammed-Wednesday Addams chic – one that she wears well, but the 20-something boutique clerk makes her question by presenting her with matronly alternatives.
From Salon • Aug. 6, 2023
The dress was off the shoulder; she is clearly attuned to the small details that ensure that, at 71, she never looks matronly.
From Washington Post • Apr. 26, 2023
Out is the matronly decorum that characterized Elizabeth’s reign.
From Seattle Times • Apr. 24, 2023
Her youthful style had given way to matronly suits, sensible shoes, quaint hats and an immutable, immovable gray coiffure.
From New York Times • Nov. 7, 2022
She is in an earlier phase, or a later one: the soft green tweeds and tailored blouses of her good- taste background, which now appear matronly on her, because she has put on weight.
From "Cat's Eye" by Margaret Atwood
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.