matador
Americannoun
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matadors
plural
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the principal bullfighter in a bullfight who passes the bull with a muleta and then, in many countries, kills it with a sword thrust; a torero.
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one of the principal cards in skat and certain other games.
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(initial capital letter) a jet-powered U.S. surface-to-surface missile.
noun
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the principal bullfighter who is appointed to kill the bull
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(in some card games such as skat) one of the highest ranking cards
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a game played with dominoes in which the dots on adjacent halves must total seven
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of matador
1665–75; < Spanish, equivalent to mata ( r ) to kill (perhaps < Vulgar Latin *mattāre, presumed derivative of Late Latin mattus soft, weak; cf. matte 1) +- dor -tor
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
His name is Mikel Merino, and he’s fast turning into Spain’s World Cup matador.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 11, 2026
The author’s there, the affable Fernando González Viñas, flanked by a matador and his entourage.
From Salon ● Jun. 23, 2026
This relentless bull market may finally have found its matador.
From Barron's ● May 15, 2026
Married couple Juan and Juan are also pleased to hear that a matador has come out, but don't quite see eye to eye on the broader issue.
From BBC ● Feb. 10, 2024
Henry throws the car in reverse and begins to back up, like a bull before charging a matador.
From "Dry" by Neal Shusterman and Jarrod Shusterman
One afternoon, when Manolete is around 11, he’s wandering past the bullfighting arena in Córdoba at the exact moment when matadors from all over Spain are filing in for an event.
From New York Times ● May 3, 2022
Wagon-wheel chandelier, cereal boxes, dirty dishes, green shag carpet, orange vinyl couch patched with duct tape, two sad-looking boys dressed as matadors staring from a painting on the wall.
From The New Yorker ● Oct. 29, 2018
Shown nearby are paintings of matadors, which have a child-like quality but were made by Picasso towards the end of his life in the early 1970s.
From The Guardian ● Apr. 26, 2017
Elsewhere in the Great Hall at London's iconic Alexandra Palace, a motley crew of skeletons, nuns, Elvis Presleys, matadors, and rather disheveled Santas, were partying hard -- all in the name of darts.
From Reuters ● Dec. 25, 2014
“I doubt you will see any matadors on the train platform,” Penelope remarked.
From "The Hidden Gallery" by Maryrose Wood
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
