virile
/ˈvɪɹ.əl/ adjective
- adjective Manly; having characteristics associated with being male, such as strength; exhibiting masculine traits to an exaggerated degree such as strength, forcefulness or vigor.
- adjective (physiology, of a male) Possessing high sexual drive and capacity for sexual intercourse.
- adjective (grammar) Pertaining to a grammatical gender used in plurals of some Slavic languages, corresponding to the personal masculine animate nouns.
Synonyms
Antonyms
Etymology
From Middle French viril, from Latin virīlis, from vir (“man”, “male human”) + -īlis (suffix forming adjectives from nouns).
Webster’s 1913
- adjective Having the nature, properties, or qualities, of an adult man; characteristic of developed manhood; hence, masterful; forceful; specifically, capable of begetting; --opposed to womanly, feminine, and puerile; as, virile age, virile power, virile organs.
Etymology [L. virilis, fr. vir a man; akin to AS. wer: cf. F. viril. See Werewolf, World, and cf. Decemvir, Virago, Virtue.]
Sources: Wiktionary · WordNet 3.0 · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “virile”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details