manga
Americannoun
-
mangas
plural
noun
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of manga
1985–90; < Japanese: literally, cartoon, comic strip
Compare meaning
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:
The discovery has significance beyond its memorable connection to manga.
From Science Daily ● Aug. 4, 2026
Having the event in November will allow people to go all-out, said his performance partner Krizel Guiral, or "Zhel", dressed as Youko Kurama, the red-headed fox demon from the same Japanese manga and anime classic.
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
My apartment walls feature not one, but two pieces of Berserk manga fan art.
From Slate ● Jun. 14, 2026
Instead, she tiptoes along the basement wall, having adopted a battle stance I’ve seen in the shonen manga she loves to read.
From "Kwame Crashes the Underworld" by Craig Kofi Farmer
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
We see mangas and tilmas, and men wearing the sandal, as in Eastern lands.
From The Scalp Hunters by F.A. Stewart
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
The morning was cold and raw, with a dense fog covering the plains, so that we could scarcely see each other's faces, and found our mangas particularly agreeable.
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.
