(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.
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
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
And the yearly calendar production means getting together to sow merman tails and road-tripping around the island for photo shoots—which have been cathartic for many of the men involved.
From Slate ● Jan. 24, 2020
But Mr. Van Ness was not feeling his normal gorgeous self, the boisterous “Yass queen” merman that fans of “Queer Eye” adore.
From New York Times ● Sep. 21, 2019
All five of them were there: the unicorn, the mermaid, the merman, the sea horse, and the lion, who now spread both his wings as if he'd never lost one.
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
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
We may think we’re living in a purely realistic drama but our inner lives are belting à la Ethel Merman.
From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 13, 2021
“Ethel Merman is not in it. She’s not on Broadway right now. So we’re seeing something with Carol Channing. She’s pretty good, too. Why don’t you come along?”
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
I take a lot of joy from my mermen, octopuses, flamingos, etc.
From Slate ● Dec. 17, 2019
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
Half a dozen mermen were pulling him away from Hermione, shaking their green-haired heads, and laughing.
From "Harry Potter And The Goblet Of Fire" by J. K. Rowling
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.
