matador

American  

[mat-uh-dawr] / ˈmæt əˌdɔr /

noun

• matadors
  plural

1. the principal bullfighter in a bullfight who passes the bull with a muleta and then, in many countries, kills it with a sword thrust; a torero.

2. one of the principal cards in skat and certain other games.

3. (initial capital letter) a jet-powered U.S. surface-to-surface missile.

---

matador British  

/ ˈmætədɔː /

noun

1. the principal bullfighter who is appointed to kill the bull

2. (in some card games such as skat) one of the highest ranking cards

3. a game played with dominoes in which the dots on adjacent halves must total seven

---

Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• matadors
  plural

---

Etymology

Origin of matador

1665–75; < Spanish, equivalent to mata ( r ) to kill (perhaps < Vulgar Latin *mattāre, presumed derivative of Late Latin mattus soft, weak; cf. matte ¹) +- dor -tor

---

Compare meaning

How does matador compare to similar and commonly confused words? Explore the most common comparisons:

• toreador vs. matador

---

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

matador matadors

And who would have guessed that a grail of It-ness would be part of the show, nestled next to the matador jacket worn by Rudolph Valentino in 1922’s “Blood and Sand.”

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 10, 2026

This relentless bull market may finally have found its matador.

From Barron's ● May 15, 2026

Hawley embraces “wonderful peacock” 1850s menswear shapes: Victor’s puffed-out chest accentuates the “wasp waist” likening him to a matador.

From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 18, 2026

We meet Iñaki, the manager here who is appropriately more matador than barkeep.

From Salon ● Nov. 8, 2025

He did not look like a matador, though.

From "The Mona Lisa Vanishes" by Nicholas Day

On its face, “Sterling Karat Gold” is the story of Sterling, a nonbinary performance artist who is assaulted by matadors on the streets of London and then accosted by a time traveler from the future.

From Washington Post ● Feb. 7, 2023

The one corrida Manolete went to as a child didn’t excite him in the least, and when kids at school pretended to be bulls and matadors, play-fighting with one another, Manolete kept to himself.

From New York Times ● May 3, 2022

Wagon-wheel chandelier, cereal boxes, dirty dishes, green shag carpet, orange vinyl couch patched with duct tape, two sad-looking boys dressed as matadors staring from a painting on the wall.

From The New Yorker ● Oct. 29, 2018

Elsewhere in the Great Hall at London's iconic Alexandra Palace, a motley crew of skeletons, nuns, Elvis Presleys, matadors, and rather disheveled Santas, were partying hard -- all in the name of darts.

From Reuters ● Dec. 25, 2014

Of course, it was Mrs. Clarke they were imitating, for how would the children know anything about bullfights and matadors?

From "The Hidden Gallery" by Maryrose Wood

Random Word

Spin the wheel and learn a new word!

---