(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
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
Yes, an actual merman, with flippers, who has been alive for centuries.
From New York Times • Apr. 26, 2018
A stone merman rose from its waters, twenty feet tall from tail to crown.
From "A Dance with Dragons" by George R. R. Martin
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.
