Word Pronunciation & Dictionary

butch

/bʊt͡ʃ/

Word Rarity Rare

Frequency: Zipf frequency 3.37 in modern English

Syllables: butch
IPA: /bʊt͡ʃ/

12

Scrabble Score

5

Letters

1

Syllables

5

Unique Chars

Meaning

adj

Very masculine, with a masculine appearance or attitude.

adj

Of a woman (usually lesbian), having a masculine appearance, or attitude.

noun

A lesbian who appears masculine or acts in a masculine manner.

Countable; Slang

verb

To work as a butcher.

Intransitive verb

verb

To slaughter (animals) and prepare (meat) for market.

Transitive verb

name

A male nickname.

Example Sentences

"There, look, Mr. Horne! Vada that great butch lucoddy!"
"Nor can I credit that a — to put it crudely — proud bisexual butch Italian — albeit one lonely, poor, emotional and without strong will — which Giovanni is shown to be in the earlier part of the book, should become, in a mere matter of months, and as the result of any happening, the venal hysterical fairy that he does."
"[…] Closeted men adopted feminine affect while butch men embraced traditional masculinity."
"[…] butch men who had sex with effeminate queens. […]"
"Then I started going out with different kinds of women, and I started feeling more like I wanted to be more butch. […] I feel much more butch than I feel femme."
"The process of appreciating a butch aesthetic may be even more complex for bisexual butch women. In contrast to lesbian butches who may date only within a butch-femme community, bisexual butch women may be more likely to […] In comparison to butch bisexual women, it may be easier for femme bisexual women to locate male and female dating partners […]"

Etymology

Originally, it was probably used as an abbreviation of butcher. Later, in the 1940s, the sense of “masculine lesbian” developed.

Usage

Inflected Forms

butcher (comparative) more butch (comparative) butchest (superlative) most butch (superlative) butches (plural) butches (present, singular) butching (participle, present) butched (participle, past) butched (past)

Derived Forms

butchery butchly butchness butchphobia butchy unbutch futch transbutch

Phrases

butch up butch cut butch queen soft butch stone butch

Synonyms

manly mannish masc masculine unfeminine bull dyke dyke macho

Antonyms

femme feminine

Rhymes With

putsch futch cwtch rutch

Questions

How do you pronounce butch?: The recorded pronunciation is /bʊt͡ʃ/.
What does butch mean?: Very masculine, with a masculine appearance or attitude.
Where does butch come from?: Originally, it was probably used as an abbreviation of butcher. Later, in the 1940s, the sense of “masculine lesbian” developed.

How to pronounce butch

Open the pronunciation page — Open the Speakur entry for “butch”.
Read the phonetic spelling — Read the IPA spelling (/bʊt͡ʃ/) so you know which sounds to aim for.
Play the audio — Click Play to hear reference audio for “butch”.
Repeat and practice — Say “butch” aloud, matching stress and vowels until it feels natural.