1. to remove feminine characteristics or qualities from someone or something
Usage: formal; often used in sociological or psychological contexts

Examples

• The military training was designed to defeminize the female recruits.
• Some critics argued that the sport’s new rules would defeminize women’s competition.
• The harsh working conditions seemed to defeminize the women over time.
• Certain cultural practices can defeminize women in traditional societies.
• The researcher studied how certain environments might defeminize behavior.
• Parents worried that the school’s approach would defeminize their daughters.