Definition of "ladyism" [ladyism]

• The condition and manners of an affected “fine lady.” (noun)

The Century Dictionary (Public Domain)

• "There was a whiff of that artificial, condescending little-ladyism that is sort of like the cockroach and the spiky horsetail plant, those life forms that have defied the odds and survived intact since remotest prehistoric times, while seemingly hardier creatures were going extinct right and left."
• "Like them, little-ladyism will never be eliminated from the ecosystem, in this case Washington's."
• "In the new trailer for Sex & The City, the schlocky ladyism is so thick you can cut it with a knifeâ€then stab it repeatedly till all the puns, and botox jokes, and cliches have bled out and it stops moving."