婦女|ふじょfujo[1]atamadaka (head-high)

1. nounwoman; womankind

• SynonymレディーNeutralLoanword for 'lady'; polite, refined nuance, quite different in feel from the old-fashioned 「婦女」.
• Synonym女子じょしCasualRead 「おなご」: a woman or girl, with a dialectal or old-fashioned colloquial flavor; not the same word as 「女子」 read 「じょし」.
• Synonym女性じょせいNeutralThe most common, neutral modern word for women; it has largely replaced 「婦女」 in everyday use.
• Synonym女おんなNeutralBlunt, colloquial 'woman', sometimes a touch rough; less formal than 「婦女」.
• Synonym婦人ふじんNeutralAdult woman; written and slightly old-fashioned, as in 「婦人服」; close in feel to 「婦女」.
• Synonym女人にょにんWrittenRead 「にょにん」: a Buddhist term for woman, as in 「女人禁制」; carries a religious flavor.
• Synonym婦女子ふじょしWrittenWomen and children, or women in general; written style with an old-fashioned ring.
• Synonym女の人おんなのひとNeutralThe polite everyday way to say 'woman'; plainer and friendlier than 「婦女」.
• SynonymウーマンNeutralLoanword for 'woman', used mostly in compounds such as 「キャリアウーマン」.
• Synonym成人女性せいじんじょせいNeutralAdult woman; a formal, objective term often seen in statistics and official figures.
• Antonym男子だんしNeutralBoys or males; the counterpart standing opposite 「婦女」.

For modern use, say 「女性」— the neutral default. 「婦女」 itself is old-fashioned written prose, kept mostly in news phrases like 「婦女暴行」. For adult women specifically, 「婦人」 fits; 「女の人」 is the polite everyday word.

Usage comparisons are AI-assisted and cross-checked by multiple models; for study reference only

1. 婦人ふじん。