merman
noun
(in folklore) a male marine creature, having the head, torso, and arms of a man and the tail of a fish.
merman
1 American
[mur-man]
/ ˈmɜrˌmæn /
noun
-
mermen
plural
-
(in folklore) a male marine creature, having the head, torso, and arms of a man and the tail of a fish.
-
a highly skilled male swimmer.
Merman
2
American
[mur-muhn]
/ ˈmɜr mən /
noun
merman
British
/ ˈmɜːˌmæn /
noun
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of merman
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:
Louie’s face appears on a merman swimming near a shipwreck.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Dec. 7, 2025
But the first mermaid that comes into focus doesn’t so much evoke wonder as it does a flashback of Ben Stiller’s merman in “Zoolander.”
From Washington Times ● May 23, 2023
After sneaking into Wakanda in “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever,” Marvel’s merman demigod Namor emerges from the water in the darkness.
From Seattle Times ● Dec. 28, 2022
One merman even ventured into a local tavern, where he splayed himself out atop the bar, puffing a long cigarette.
From Slate ● Jan. 24, 2020
The wing spun through the air, bounced off the merman, and landed with a loud thump on the platform.
From "The Thief Lord" by Cornelia Funke
Ethel Merman picked up a wine glass and gently squeezed the top.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jan. 1, 2026
And harking back to Sam Mendes’ polarizing 2003 revival, I wistfully reflected on the broken-doll quality that Bernadette Peters brought to a character formed in the battleship mode of Ethel Merman, the original Rose.
From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 31, 2025
Jerry Zucker: In terms of Ethel Merman and Barbara Billingsley, we thought of a joke: "What if someone said he thinks he's Ethel Merman, and it was her?"
From Salon ● Oct. 3, 2023
On a late Sunday afternoon in March, energy pulses at the Mountain Merman Brewing Company — one of the few bars in town.
From Seattle Times ● Apr. 8, 2023
“That Ethel Merman can really belt it out.”
From "Middlesex: A Novel" by Jeffrey Eugenides
Ariel, played by Halle Bailey, is Black and hails from a mixed-race family of mermaids and mermen.
From Washington Times ● May 25, 2023
Jeff Hillyard was working as a forklift salesman when he saw a call on Facebook for guys willing to pose as mermen.
From Slate ● Jan. 24, 2020
Dive Bar’s 40-foot-long aquarium, located above the main bar, holds 7,500 gallons of saltwater, 60-some tropical fish and, on occasion, mermaids and mermen.
From Washington Post ● Mar. 14, 2018
Photograph: Robert Azmitia/Demotix for the Guardian “I don’t think the merman market has been huge because people are people have been uncomfortable with it,” Candy Ducharme said, attributing the lack of mermen to “fear”.
From The Guardian ● Jun. 14, 2015
I looked down at the courtyards below and saw hundreds of wounded mermen lying on makeshift cots.
From "The Last Olympian" by Rick Riordan
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.
