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• macho
  macho

  adjective

  having or characterized by qualities considered manly, especially when manifested in an assertive, self-conscious, or dominating way.
• MACHO
  MACHO

  Short for massive astrophysical compact halo object. Any of various massive dark objects, such as a brown dwarf star, black hole, or large planet, found in a galactic halo. MACHOs are thought to make up at least a part of the dark matter that apparently pervades much of the universe.

macho

American  

[mah-choh] / ˈmɑ tʃoʊ /

adjective

1. having or characterized by qualities considered manly, especially when manifested in an assertive, self-conscious, or dominating way.

2. having a strong or exaggerated sense of power or the right to dominate.

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noun

• machos
  plural

1. Also machoism assertive or aggressive manliness; machismo.

2. an assertively virile, dominating, or domineering male.

macho British  

/ ˈmætʃəʊ /

adjective

1. denoting or exhibiting pride in characteristics believed to be typically masculine, such as physical strength, sexual appetite, etc

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noun

1. a man who displays such characteristics

MACHO Scientific  

/ mä′chō /

1. Short for massive astrophysical compact halo object. Any of various massive dark objects, such as a brown dwarf star, black hole, or large planet, found in a galactic halo. MACHOs are thought to make up at least a part of the dark matter that apparently pervades much of the universe.

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macho Cultural  

1. The often exaggerated, aggressive virility of a male: “Jim likes to wear a torn T-shirt and a black leather jacket when he rides his motorcycle. I guess he thinks it makes him look macho.” The original Spanish word means “male.”

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• supermacho
  noun
• antimacho
  adjective
• unmacho
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• machos
  plural

Etymology

Origin of macho

An Americanism first recorded in 1925–30; from Spanish: literally, “male,” from Latin masculus; see male, masculine

Explanation

A man who's aggressively masculine can be described as macho. A boxer might try to intimidate his opponent by walking into the ring with a macho swagger. To be macho is to display a tough, fierce, overly confident facade. A man who's macho would never cry or sip a cup of tea or pet a kitten, because none of these things would be seen as "manly" enough. In Spanish, macho means "male animal," from the Latin root masculus, also "male," but also "worthy of a man."

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

macho MACHO machos

In short, he was the kind of macho figure his KGB employers favored.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 14, 2026

A romantic misanthrope, Refn puts his emotions only into the visuals and music; he makes the most macho films ever shot in pink.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 23, 2026

The Platner disaster shows the danger in that thinking—and the perils of the macho attitude behind it.

From Slate ● Jul. 7, 2026

But instead of taking the seasoned actor’s approach to directing, which often translates to schmaltzy, overly macho films that couldn’t bear their heart to save their lives, Travolta opts for total sincerity.

From Salon ● Jun. 10, 2026

The idea of the club was to be as macho as possible and to establish once and for all that we were something special.

From "Bad Boy" by Walter Dean Myers

After nearly 2 million individual observations that yielded just one dubious MACHO, Griest's group was ready to give up.

From Time Magazine Archive

After Griest and his colleagues had raised and ruled out phenomena that might be tricking them, they were ready to unveil their MACHO.

From Time Magazine Archive

The Women for Change organization joined in: “It is not that everything now looks to women like harassment, it is that to machos like you it has never seemed bad to harass!” the group tweeted.

From The Guardian ● Feb. 3, 2020

This sentiment was reinforced by mid-century machos such as Ernest Hemingway, John Wayne, and John Ford.

From The New Yorker ● Oct. 4, 2018

For a finale, he staged a protest — models marching out, fists in the air, with picket signs that said, "Be Your Own Stylist," "Tweed is Better than Tweet" and "We can match the machos."

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 3, 2014

Joe Namath huddled with an assortment of international machos, trying to give the impression that Brut deserved a seat in the United Nations.

From Time Magazine Archive

This was the Riscos de Valderejo, and on its heights there roamed, we were told, a good band of ibex, including some machos of the first rank.

From Wild Spain (Espa?a agreste) Records of Sport with Rifle, Rod, and Gun, Natural History Exploration by Walter J. Buck

Related Words

• aggressive
• cocky
• manly
• masculine