man-made
Americanadjective
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produced, formed, or made by humans.
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produced artificially; not resulting from natural processes.
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Textiles.
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(of a fiber) manufactured synthetically from a cellulosic or noncellulosic base; produced chemically.
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(of a fabric or garment) constructed of synthetically made fibers.
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adjective
Etymology
Origin of man-made
First recorded in 1710–20
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.
Flames engulfed the world's largest tropical rainforest in 2024 when an unprecedented drought triggered the spread of fires, the majority of which were man-made.
From Barron's ● Jul. 21, 2026
Those advisories are “blunt instruments” that don’t adequately capture emissions from burning man-made goods — or convey that the source of pollution may include burning batteries or toxic refrigerants, he said.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 30, 2026
The risk of bird strikes is already high, and there’s no excuse for man-made drone accidents that make flying less safe.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 29, 2026
Physical capacity across the world is constricted by a variety of chokepoints, some natural like Hormuz, some man-made like tariffs.
From MarketWatch ● May 15, 2026
Even people who have less restrictive filters and a good feel for numbers will note an increasingly large number of coincidences, due in large measure to the number and complexity of man-made conventions.
From "Innumeracy: Mathematical Illiteracy and Its Consequences" by John Allen Paulos
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.
