machismo

What it means

1. informaluncountableusuallyAn excessive masculine pride, exaggerated masculinity.

   The tragedy of machismo is that a man is never quite man enough.

   1971 September 28, Germaine Greer, “My Mailer Problem”, in Esquire

   1 more example

   With machismo, Christian nationalism and callousness toward the lives of US troops, they say, Hegseth’s puerile displays on TV are aimed at sating Trump’s desire for a warmonger worthy of the manosphere.

   2026 March 8, David Smith, “‘A very dangerous person’: alarm as Pete Hegseth revels in carnage of Iran war”, in The Guardian, →ISSN

2. uncountableusuallyLatin AmericanMale chauvinism, misogyny.

   PSP [Puerto Rican Socialist Party] spokesperson Victor Lopez-Tosado told GCN: "[…] The party is mainly organized in a Latin American country where oppression, as a result of machismo, etc., to homosexuals is very common."

   1979 April 7, Rebecca Chase, “PSP Supports Gay Rights”, in Gay Community News, page 1

   1 more example

   The Dominican Republic is traditionally regarded as a patriarchal island brimming with machismo — where, indeed, a recent U.S. ambassador was publicly vilified for bringing his husband to his posting. It was, and is, an unlikely place to find an enclave of acceptance. So what explains this unique tolerance?

   2017, Sarah A. Topol, “Sons and Daughters”, in Harper's Magazine

In a sentence

The tragedy of machismo is that a man is never quite man enough.

1971 September 28, Germaine Greer, “My Mailer Problem”, in Esquire

Where it comes from

1. Spanishmacho“male”
2. Spanishmachismo
3. Englishmachismo

First attested 1940, from American Spanish machismo, from Spanish macho (“male”), + suffix -ismo (“-ism”).