Meanings
plural machismos
- 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 Esquire1 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 - 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 11 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
Synonyms & antonyms
Origin
- Spanishmacho“male”
- Spanishmachismo
- Englishmachismo
First attested 1940, from American Spanish machismo, from Spanish macho (“male”), + suffix -ismo (“-ism”).
More words from Spanish
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Basque matxismo
- matxismoexaggerated masculinity
Catalan masclisme
- masclismeexaggerated masculinity
Chinese Mandarin 大男子主義 /大男子主义
- 大男子主義 /大男子主义 (dànánzǐzhǔyì)exaggerated masculinity
Esperanto maĉismo
- maĉismoexaggerated masculinity
Finnish miehevyys, machoilu
- miehevyysexaggerated masculinity
- machoiluexaggerated masculinity
French machisme
- machismeexaggerated masculinity
German Machismo
- Machismoexaggerated masculinity
Icelandic karlremba
- karlrembaexaggerated masculinity
Italian machismo, maschilismo
- machismoexaggerated masculinity
- maschilismoexaggerated masculinity
- gallismoexaggerated masculinity
Japanese マッチョ
- マッチョexaggerated masculinity
Latin masculismus
- masculismusexaggerated masculinity
Polish machismo
- machismoexaggerated masculinity
Portuguese machismo
- machismoexaggerated masculinity
Russian мачи́зм
- мачи́зм (mačízm)exaggerated masculinity
Spanish machismo
- machismoexaggerated masculinity
Tagalog matsismo
- matsismoexaggerated masculinity
Rhymes & wordplay
Anagrams
Cite this entry
machismo. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/machismo
“machismo.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/machismo. Accessed November 4, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “machismo,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/machismo.
Source: machismo on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.