man cave

American  

noun

Informal.

• man caves
  plural

1. a room or other area in a home that is primarily a male sanctuary, designed and furnished to accommodate the man's recreational activities, hobbies, etc..

   The basement is my husband's man cave—during football season, you can usually find him down there watching the game with his buddies on the big-screen TV.

---

Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• man caves
  plural

Etymology

Origin of man cave

First recorded in 1990–95

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

man cave

The two delight in discovering each other’s cultural differences, even if the alien is occasionally bossy and annoying, say when Rocky bleats “Dirty! Dirty!” upon entering Grace’s astral man cave.

From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 18, 2026

From the basement, a cross between a man cave and a photo studio, Williams has made parodies of pop, rock, R&B, rap and country songs.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Dec. 19, 2025

“You walked in—you were in a man cave, with a two-door buzz system. You felt like a criminal.”

From Slate ● Apr. 19, 2025

After Christmas, Ian says he's looking forward to converting the boat into a "man cave", where he can return to building his small model boats.

From BBC ● Dec. 21, 2024

This must have been Mr. Wheeler’s man cave.

From "Here to Stay" by Sara Farizan