noun / adjective
sissy
SIS-ee/sˈɪsi/
An insulting term for someone viewed as weak or unmanly.
The bully calls the hesitant boy a sissy before the climbing frame.
Etymology
Sis means “sister,” and sissy originally shared that familiar meaning. It later became a label for an “effeminate man,” leading to the insult that equates perceived femininity with weakness or cowardice.
In context
they would call me a sissy because I didn't hang with them. I didn't do bad things.
More examples
- She rejects the idea that crying makes someone a sissy.
- He calls cooking a sissy hobby, and his friends disagree.
- The coach tells his players to stop calling each other sissies.
Forms
sissy · sissies · sissier · sissiest
Similar words
- coward
- Coward stresses lack of courage, not perceived lack of masculinity.
- wimp
- Wimp mocks weakness or timidity without necessarily implying unmanliness.