Meanings
manspreading1
- derogatoryinformaluncountableThe practice of men splaying their legs open wide when sitting on public transport, thus occupying more than one seat.
Manspreading is certainly bad manners in a crowded subway – and so is other stuff, like people wielding giant backpacks.
2015 January 10, Margaret Wente, “Advice to younger women: Practise manning up”, in The Globe and Mail, Toronto3 more examples
The new ads — aimed at curbing rude behavior like manspreading and wearing large backpacks on crowded trains — are set to go up in the subways next month.
2014 December 20, Emma G. Fitzsimmons, “A scourge is spreading. M.T.A.’s cure? Dude, close your legs”, in The New York TimesTwitter, Snapchat and Instagram show thousands pictures of men engaging in this behaviour, and New York's transit authority launched a campaign against ‘manspreading’, with a Tumblr dedicated: Men Taking Up Too Much Space On The Train.
2015 January 16, Natasha Devon, “The rise of stranger shaming: How humiliating others became acceptable”, in The Independent, LondonManspreading creates stability for your pelvis and lower back. You can either position your feet together and let your knees fall to the sides or spread your feet wide.
2016, Kelly Starrett, Deskbound: Standing Up to a Sitting World, page 190Synonyms: man-sitting
manspreading2
- gerundparticiplepresentpresent participle and gerund of manspread
Synonyms & antonyms
nounThe practice of men splaying their legs open wide when sitting on public transport, thus occupying more than one seat.
Origin
manspreading · noun
From man + spreading. Popularized in 2014, perhaps patterned after mansplaining. Equal to manspread + -ing.
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Chinese Mandarin 大爺式佔位／男性開腿 /大爷式占位, 男性开腿
- 大爺式佔位／男性開腿 /大爷式占位practice of men splaying their legs open wide when sitting on public transport
- 男性开腿 (Dàyéshì zhànwèi / Nánxìng kāitǔi)practice of men splaying their legs open wide when sitting on public transport
Finnish äijähaara
- äijähaarapractice of men splaying their legs open wide when sitting on public transport
Japanese マンスプレッディング, 大股開き
- マンスプレッディングpractice of men splaying their legs open wide when sitting on public transport
- 大股開き (ōmatabiraki)practice of men splaying their legs open wide when sitting on public transport
- 大股座り (ōmata suwari)practice of men splaying their legs open wide when sitting on public transport
Russian мэнспрединг
- мэнспрединг (mɛnspreding)practice of men splaying their legs open wide when sitting on public transport
Spanish despatarre masculino
- despatarre masculinopractice of men splaying their legs open wide when sitting on public transport
Swedish manspreada
- manspreadapractice of men splaying their legs open wide when sitting on public transport
Cite this entry
manspreading. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/manspreading
“manspreading.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/manspreading. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “manspreading,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/manspreading.
Source: manspreading on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.