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.
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
A true bro cultivates a harsh, insouciant machismo.
From Salon • Aug. 16, 2025
America’s most machismo and gas-guzzling car, the Hummer, has been relaunched as an electric vehicle.
From Slate • Jun. 20, 2025
His depictions of authoritarianism, violence and machismo, using rich language and imagery, made him a star of the Latin American Boom literary movement that shone a global spotlight on the continent.
From BBC • Apr. 14, 2025
Careful checks of collateral became almost laughable and utterly contrary to the ultracompetitive, machismo attitude that pervaded the banking industry in Texas.
From "Friday Night Lights: A Town, A Team, And A Dream" by H.G. Bissinger
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.
