Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • adjective Of, relating to, or suitable for a maiden.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • Like a maid; gentle; modest; reserved.
  • In a maiden-like manner; modestly; gently.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • adjective Like a maid; suiting a maid; maiden-like; gentle, modest, reserved.
  • adverb In a maidenlike manner.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • adjective Of or pertaining to a maiden.
  • adjective Suitable for, or befitting a maiden.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • adjective befitting or characteristic of a maiden

Etymologies

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

maiden +‎ -ly

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Examples

  • We see, then, that pre-conjugal chastity and also a "maidenly" reserve and bashfulness are, when monosexual dominance prevails, displayed only by members of the subject sex.

    The Dominant Sex: A Study in the Sociology of Sex Differentiation, by Mathilde and Mathias Vaerting; translated from the German by Eden and Cedar Paul 1923

  • Perhaps she had not that kind of maidenly shyness, sometimes called conventional propriety, sometimes described as 'mauvaise honte' which a woman of the world would have shown.

    That Fortune Charles Dudley Warner 1864

  • Perhaps she had not that kind of maidenly shyness, sometimes called conventional propriety, sometimes described as 'mauvaise honte' which a woman of the world would have shown.

    The Complete Project Gutenberg Writings of Charles Dudley Warner Charles Dudley Warner 1864

  • Soft flesh, a few maidenly whimpers, and boom, the itch is scratched.

    Earl of Durkness Alix Rickloff 2011

  • Yes, and her face was storm-bright, and all of her was very proud, save that her eyes were warm and soft and fluttered with lids that just would flutter maidenly and womanly.

    CHAPTER XXXVII 2010

  • Pentfield wrote back heartily, laughing at her fears, which he took to be the mere physical ones of danger and hardship rather than those bred of maidenly reserve.

    THE FAITH OF MEN 2010

  • Her face went white on the instant, not from maidenly embarrassment, but from the anger which he could see flaming in her eyes.

    Chapter 20 2010

  • Her pity could not be of the common sort, when the man who drew it was so much man as to shock her with maidenly fears and set her mind and pulse thrilling with strange thoughts and feelings.

    Chapter 7 2010

  • Here from my window in my tower, I see the maidenly birches in their bridal veils against the dark pine wood -- there is nothing like the birch in the spring.

    Brenda, My Darling: The Love Letters of Fridtjof Nansen to Brenda Ueland 2012

  • Soft flesh, a few maidenly whimpers, and boom, the itch is scratched.

    Earl of Durkness Alix Rickloff 2011

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