macho

comparative more macho · superlative most macho

1. informalMasculine in an overly assertive or aggressive way. Very masculine.

   macho culture

   3 more examples

   I like sports because I enjoy knowing that many of these macho athletes have to vomit before a big game. Any guy who would take a job where you gotta puke first is my kinda guy.

   1997, George Carlin, “SPORTS ROUNDUP”, in Brain Droppings, New York: Hyperion Books, →ISBN, page 56

   The government’s “bullish” and “macho” approach to Brexit should not stop Conservative backbenchers from tabling amendments to the crucial repeal bill, a leading Tory remainer has said.

   2017 September 4, “End ‘macho’ Brexit posturing, Anna Soubry urges May”, in The Guardian

   Joseph Biden has described Donald Trump’s refusal to wear a mask as “macho”, an insult unlikely to wound a president, who, before his illness, began rallies with speakers blasting the Village People’s 1979 song Macho Man.

   2020 October 15, Francine Prose, “Trump's macho bravado is an embarrassment. Yet it puts us all in danger”, in The Guardian

plural machos

1. A macho person; a man who is masculine in an overly assertive or aggressive way.

   You can tell a macho, he has a funky walk / His western shirts and leather, always look so boss

   1978, “Macho Man”, performed by Village People

   Synonyms: macho man, jock, Chad, hombre, he-man, jock, macho man, man among men · Antonyms: bading, big girl's blouse, cockney, cot-quean, cupcake, dudelet, fakaleiti, fairy

2. A very masculine man.

   Synonyms: hypermasculine, Chad, hombre, he-man, jock, macho man, man among men, manimal

3. Machismo

   […] about how the military is anti-gay and uses intimidation and peer pressure. How it promotes a sense of false macho and patriotism.

   1980 August 30, Jil Clark, quoting Bob Andrews, “Gays Talk About Registration and the Draft”, in Gay Community News, volume 8, number 6, page 9

   2 more examples

   Though there was plentiful evidence to the contrary that should have made plain to him the hairy masculine macho of German gays, Hitler's stereotyped image perceived them as woman-like, surrendering, and therefore essentially weak.

   1981, Frank Rector, The Nazi Extermination of Homosexuals, page 33

   On this day, when tens of millions of men, and women, are watching this yearly celebration of American macho, we'd like them to stop and think about the prevalence of male violence against women and what they can do to end it.

   1990 February 4, Laura Briggs, quoting Jackson Katz, “Men March Against Sexism During Superbowl”, in Gay Community News, volume 17, number 29, page 2

4. The striped mullet of California (Mugil cephalus, syn. Mugil mexicanus).
5. A male llama.

plural MACHOs

1. abbreviationinitialismInitialism of massive astrophysical compact halo object.