afeminar

A dated verb meaning to make effeminate or, reflexively, to become effeminate — used mainly in older or prescriptive texts and now considered outdated and often pejorative in how it frames masculinity and gender expression. Modern Spanish rarely uses this verb in neutral registers.

• Los críticos del siglo XIX decían que la ópera afeminaba el gusto. — 19th-century critics claimed opera made taste effeminate.
• Antiguos manuales advertían no afeminarse con ciertas costumbres. — Old manuals warned against becoming 'effeminate' through certain habits.
• Es un verbo que hoy suena anticuado y cargado de prejuicio. — It's a verb that sounds dated and prejudiced today.

Using afeminar in modern speech expecting it to sound neutral — it carries outdated, often pejorative connotations tied to old gender stereotypes, and appears mostly in historical or critical discussion of that language today, not casual conversation.