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emasculate

[ih-mas-kyuh-leyt, ih-mas-kyuh-lit, -leyt] / ɪˈmæs kjəˌleɪt, ɪˈmæs kjə lɪt, -ˌleɪt /


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.

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That dynamic was taboo for generations of Americans who feared it might emasculate men and ruin couples’ romantic lives.

From The Wall Street Journal Sep. 27, 2025

Ben Berman, a New York City vegan who began a serious weightlifting regimen last year, said he's trying to reappropriate the epithet "soy boy," historically used to emasculate vegan and vegetarian men.

From Salon Jul. 15, 2024

The British attempted to correct the problem by using another lubricant, but Indian troops remained suspicious and some began to believe the British were intentionally using lubricants made of offensive materials to emasculate the sepoys.

From Textbooks Dec. 14, 2022

When Martha calls in the local vet to fix some of the tomcats hanging around, Ernest accuses her of trying to emasculate him.

From Washington Post Apr. 30, 2018

The third section, cutting off late Confederate officials from eligibility to Federal offices, provoked repeated attempts to modify and emasculate it.

From History of the Thirty-Ninth Congress of the United States by Barnes, William Horatio

“One guy presents himself as a kind of salt of the earth, a person you could hang out with, and then effectively emasculates the other by presenting them as the opposite.”

From New York Times Nov. 1, 2020

“I wanted a gender pronoun that was fun, and that immediately emasculates you—because you can’t roll your eyes and say ‘judy’ without being camp,” Mac told the Guardian during the “24-Decade” run.

From The New Yorker Apr. 20, 2019

Eichhorst thinks he’s won the Lumen, allegedly the key to worldwide vampire eradication, but Palmer publicly emasculates him by yanking funds.

From Los Angeles Times Oct. 5, 2015

Aftermath has caused a sensation in the United Kingdom because Cusk so devastatingly emasculates her husband.

From Slate Aug. 4, 2012

Self-Government is necessary to the self-respect and dignity of a People; Other-Government emasculates a Nation, lowers its character, and lessens its capacity.

From The Case for India by Besant, Annie Wood

It seems to me the premise is flawed—that men are either emasculated or overly macho.

From The Wall Street Journal Apr. 24, 2026

That's because, Chung explains, influencers and politicians are "tapping into people's grievances" and "trying to recapture some of the feelings of being emasculated by the younger generation".

From BBC Mar. 5, 2026

Allow me to weigh in here, given that you mentioned it in your letter: It’s not your job to reduce your life savings or net worth so your husband doesn’t feel threatened or emasculated.

From MarketWatch Jan. 22, 2026

The idea is to create a permission structure for men to support Harris and not feel emasculated by doing so.

From Salon Oct. 29, 2024

He somehow manages to flash a cool smile, even in his most emasculated state.

From "Dry" by Neal Shusterman and Jarrod Shusterman

Poor Mr. Biswas, a man of meager prospects but irrepressible pride, must suffer through a series of demeaning dwellings to which his in-laws, the emasculating Tulsis, confine him.

From The Wall Street Journal Jun. 10, 2026

To Trump, who has rigidly hierarchical notions of gender, that probably seems emasculating.

From Salon Mar. 6, 2026

These deficiencies made it hard for him to advance in his epic fights with Mr. Cuomo, who was engaged in a persistent project of emasculating him.

From New York Times Dec. 23, 2021

There is absolutely an alternate universe where Honey Boy—which borrows from the sometimes tender, mostly emasculating nickname that LaBeouf’s James calls his preteen son—isn’t an achievement on multiple fronts.

From Slate Nov. 8, 2019

Between 1867 and 1871, he pushed himself even harder, growing thousands of hawkweeds in another patch of garden, emasculating the flowers with the same forceps, and dusting pollen with the same paintbrush.

From "The Gene" by Siddhartha Mukherjee




Vocabulary lists containing emasculate


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