Meanings
nounfour-letter man (plural four-letter men)
plural four-letter men
- human sciencesAn athlete who has earned varsity letters in four different sports, typically football, basketball, baseball, and track.
He was the best four-letter man state ever had.
1964, Stan Lee, Calamity on the Campus!
Origin
From the varsity letters.
Full word history & related roots →Cite this entry
APA
four-letter man. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/four-letter%20man
MLA
“four-letter man.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/four-letter%20man. Accessed November 4, 2026.
Chicago
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “four-letter man,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/four-letter%20man.
Source: four-letter man on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.