henpecked

English

Etymology

From hen +‎ pecked.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈhɛnpɛkt/

• Audio (US):

  (file)

• Hyphenation: hen‧pecked

Adjective

henpecked (comparative more henpecked, superlative most henpecked)

1. (particularly of husbands or boyfriends) Intimidated or overwhelmed by a nagging or overbearing matriarch, wife, or girlfriend.
   • June-July 1884, Henry James, “The Author of Beltraffio”, in The English Illustrated Magazine:

     "I noticed that he addressed her as 'My dear,' very genially, without any trace of resentment.... The quickness of the transition made me vaguely ask myself whether he were henpecked,—a shocking conjecture, which I instantly dismissed."

Synonyms

• pussywhipped
• under the thumb
• uxorious

Derived terms

• unhenpecked

Related terms

• mother hen (noun), mother-hen (verb)

Translations

plagued or overwhelmed by one's wife

Azerbaijani: amcıq əskisi Catalan: bajoc m, calçasses (ca) m (noun) Chinese: Mandarin: 怕老婆的 (pàlǎopó de), 懼內的 / 惧内的 (zh) (jùnèi de) Czech: pod pantoflem Danish: i sin hule hånd, tøffelhelt (da) Finnish: tossun alla, tossutettu French: jobard (fr) m, la femme porte la culotte, dominé par sa femme German: unter dem Pantoffel, Pantoffelheld (de) m (a henpecked husband) Hungarian: papucs (hu), tutyimutyi (hu) Italian: soggiogato (it), sottomesso (it), plagiato (it), asservito (it) Japanese: 女房天下 (にょうぼうてんか, nyōbō tenka), 二本棒 (にほんぼう, nihonbō), 鼻下長 (びかちょう, bikachō) Latin: uxorius Macedonian: папучар m (papučar) Norman: dêbraiesi Norwegian: Bokmål: tøffelhelt (no) m Persian: زن‌ذلیل (zan-zalil) Polish: pod pantoflem, pantoflarz (pl) m, pozbadnięty (regional) Portuguese: mandado (pt) Russian: под башмако́м (pod bašmakóm), под каблуко́м (ru) (pod kablukóm), подкаблу́чник (ru) (podkablúčnik) (noun) Scottish Gaelic: fo mhaide na poite, piteag f (a henpecked man) Spanish: (Spain) calzonazos (es) m, planchabragas (es) m, (Mexico) mandilón (es) m, (Chile) macabeo (es) m, (Bolivia, Río de la Plata) pollerudo (es) m, (Peru) pisado (es) Swedish: toffel (sv) c, toffelhjälte (sv) c, tofflad Tagalog: ander de saya Turkish: kılıbık (tr)

See also

• wear the pants