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Answer: The opposite gender noun to spinster is a bachelor. Spinster denotes a woman who is not just single but also unlikely to marry in the future, especially given her age. The name “spinster” is outdated and derogatory.
By itself, the term bachelor refers to an unmarried man without implying that he will remain so.
A confirmed bachelor, a man who is unmarried and expects to remain unmarried, is a closer male equivalent to a spinster.
The male phrase, as is typically the case, has fewer negative overtones. A spinster was sometimes considered to be single because she was unattractive. It was assumed that a confirmed bachelor was making a lifestyle decision.
Unlike related occupational words like “weaver,” it gained a gendered connection.
It was also a derogatory term for an older single woman in the past.
This expression is no longer in use. Unless you’re writing a historical novel about 19th-century family life, you won’t need to use the term “spinster” in the derogatory meaning, and you won’t need a male equivalent.
The opposite gender of “spinster” is “spinster,” just as the opposing gender of “weaver” is “weaver,” and the opposite gender of “carpenter” is “carpenter.”
The noun spinster’ refers to a woman who has never married and is past childbearing age.
The word comes from a time when most women were uneducated and, if not married, became dependents in a family member’s home. Spinning wool and thread, literally the family spinster, was one of the jobs usually assigned to an adult-dependent family member (everyone had to earn their keep).
This may lead you to conclude that a bachelor, a man who has never married, is the polar opposite of a spinster. That is incorrect since an unmarried male of any age is not past the age of (expected) childbearing.
