man-child
Americannoun
plural
men-childrenEtymology
Origin of man-child
Middle English word dating back to 1350–1400
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.
Gannon-Doak is Scotland's flying machine, the man-child who was supposed to scare the wits out of the Greeks with his speed and his daring, and electrify Hampden with his personality.
From BBC • Oct. 9, 2025
Like him, they’re also racing from man-child parts to man-man ones.
From The Wall Street Journal • Sep. 30, 2025
His fictional character, a hyperactive, bow-tied man-child, provided subversive messages about nonconformity in films such as “Pee-wee’s Big Adventure” and his classic Saturday morning TV show, “Pee-wee’s Playhouse.”
From Salon • Jan. 30, 2025
The movie does signal its darkly comedic aims from the moment we first see the actor’s gnomic man-child frown, which by now is a ready signifier of emotional and psychological deficiency.
From Los Angeles Times • Nov. 22, 2023
I wanted to be a baby, but instead, I was an adult who talked like one, a spooky man-child demanding more than his fair share of attention.
From "Me Talk Pretty One Day" by David Sedaris
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.
