【Female】 ,  【feminine】 ,  【womanly】 ,  【womanlike】 ,  【womanish】 ,  【effeminate】 ,  【ladylike】  are comparable when meaning of, characteristic of, or like a 【female】 especially of the human species.

【Female】  (opposed to male ) applies to animals and plants as well as to human beings and stresses the fact of sex.

【Feminine】  (opposed to masculine ) alone of these words may imply grammatical gender, but it characteristically applies to features, attributes, or qualities which belong to women rather than to men; it has practically displaced all except the more strictly physiological senses of  【female】 .

【Womanly】  (often opposed to girlish or, from another point of view, to manly ) is used to qualify whatever evidences the qualities of a fully developed woman. It often specifically suggests qualities (as tenderness, sympathy, moral strength, and fortitude) which especially befit a woman and make her attractive especially in her functions as a wife and mother, or it may merely suggest the absence of such mannish qualities as aggressiveness.

【Womanlike】  (opposed to manlike ) is more apt to suggest characteristically 【feminine】 faults or foibles.

【Womanish】  (compare mannish, childish ) is a term of contempt, especially when applied to what should be virile or masculine.

【Effeminate】 emphasizes the idea of unmanly delicacy, luxuriousness, or enervation.

【Ladylike】 is sometimes used sarcastically, especially of men, to imply a dainty and finical affectation of the proprieties.

As applied to girls and women or to their conduct, habits, or manners, 【ladylike】 implies conformity to a standard appropriate to a lady.