machismo
Americannoun
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a strong or exaggerated sense of manliness; an assumptive attitude that virility, courage, strength, and entitlement to dominate are attributes or concomitants of masculinity.
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a strong or exaggerated sense of power or the right to dominate.
The military campaign was an exercise in national machismo.
noun
Etymology
Origin of machismo
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.
Instead, we are getting messaging in the style of machismo.
From Salon • Mar. 8, 2026
He never rose beyond private first class during a 1950s stint in the military, but he projected so much machismo that he seemed born to wear an officer’s uniform.
From The Wall Street Journal • Feb. 16, 2026
America’s most machismo and gas-guzzling car, the Hummer, has been relaunched as an electric vehicle.
From Slate • Jun. 20, 2025
Selena’s performances felt like cathartic responses to the machismo she faced as a young woman, which, as it also turned out, was coming from inside the house.
From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 27, 2025
But there is an element of machismo in the Sherpa culture that makes many men extremely reluctant to acknowledge physical infirmities.
From "Into Thin Air" by Jon Krakauer
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.
