manga
Americannoun
-
mangas
plural
noun
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of manga
1985–90; < Japanese: literally, cartoon, comic strip
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How does manga compare to similar and commonly confused words? Explore the most common comparisons:
Explanation
Manga is a Japanese style of comic books and graphic novels. Astro Boy and Dragon Ball are examples of popular manga. Manga is sold around the world and translated into dozens of languages, but it's mainly published in Japan, where it's popular with all ages of readers. In Japanese, manga literally translates to "involuntary pictures," but the word is used to describe both comics and cartooning. Western fans of manga recognize its distinctive style, with impressionistic backgrounds and big-eyed characters. Most manga is read from right to left, like Japanese writing.
Vocabulary lists containing manga
English Words Derived from Japanese
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Kwame Crashes the Underworld
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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.
See Examples For:
There’s a stacked manga gallery for fans of that genre too.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 8, 2026
The journey from manga inspiration to publication in an international scientific journal shows that serious research can also be creative, memorable, and accessible.
From Science Daily ● Aug. 4, 2026
But relief is coming for the upwards of 250,000 people from all over the world who attend the WCS every year to embody manga, animation or video game characters.
From Barron's ● Aug. 1, 2026
In “Daemons of the Shadow Realm,” based on the manga by acclaimed “Fullmetal Alchemist” creator Hiromu Arakawa, Huru leads a simple life in the premodern Edo-style Higashi Village.
From Salon ● Jul. 18, 2026
It’s actually one of my manga sketches—Anna surprised me with it for my birthday this year.
From "Leah on the Offbeat" by Becky Albertalli
The same would later be true with automobiles, gadgetry and — for fans of “Demon Slayer,” “One Piece” and other mangas — cartoons, to name just those few.
From Seattle Times ● Aug. 7, 2021
Japan discovered its first element, nihonium, No. 113, in 2004, and Chapman reports that Japanese children read mangas dramatizing the work of the country’s top nuclear physicist, Kosuke Morita.
From The New Yorker ● Dec. 27, 2019
The sick followed on asses, and amongst them various masculine women, with sarapes or mangas and large straw hats, tied down with coloured handkerchiefs, mounted on mules or horses.
From Life in Mexico by Madame (Frances Erskine Inglis) Calderón de la Barca
As for us, we also rolled ourselves in our mangas, and lay down in our barn, but passed a miserable night.
From Life in Mexico by Madame (Frances Erskine Inglis) Calderón de la Barca
We rose at five, dressed by candlelight, took chocolate, put on our mangas, and then planted ourselves in the passage looking down upon the patio, to watch the proceedings and preparations.
From Life in Mexico by Madame (Frances Erskine Inglis) Calderón de la Barca
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.
