man-child
noun
plural men-children
ˈmen-ˌchil-drən 
-dərn
1
: a male child : son
… it came to her what a glory it would be to be the mother of a man-child like this.—
Jack London
Jack London2
: a man who has the qualities of a child : a childlike man
… a largely likable tale about a 38-year-old man-child trying finally to grow up.—Manohla Dargis
Manohla DargisExamples of man-child in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
Ricky develops romantic feelings for Chad even though Russ plays him as a soft-spoken, possibly dim rural hick who may well be a literal man-child.
—Nicholas Quah, Vulture, 29 Sep. 2025
Infiniti is asked to play the put-upon daughter of a man-child father, a scared child, a phony among true believers, and eventually, a reluctant killer.
—Paul A. Thompson, Pitchfork, 24 Sep. 2025
Winter’s cast is certainly up to the seriocomic challenge, with Gad playing a pitch-perfect man-child in an Alamo Drafthouse t-shirt who can’t help but notice that his life has turned into one of his unsold scripts.
—Michael Rechtshaffen, HollywoodReporter, 12 Sep. 2025
Miranda is now fully gay, split up from Steve (David Eigenberg), her son Brady (Niall Cunningham) a man-child stumbling through his twenties.
—Lyz Lenz, Rolling Stone, 16 Aug. 2025
See All Example Sentences for man-child
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to
show current usage.
Read More
Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors.
Send us feedback.
Nicholas Quah, Vulture, 29 Sep. 2025
Infiniti is asked to play the put-upon daughter of a man-child father, a scared child, a phony among true believers, and eventually, a reluctant killer.
—Paul A. Thompson, Pitchfork, 24 Sep. 2025
Winter’s cast is certainly up to the seriocomic challenge, with Gad playing a pitch-perfect man-child in an Alamo Drafthouse t-shirt who can’t help but notice that his life has turned into one of his unsold scripts.
—Michael Rechtshaffen, HollywoodReporter, 12 Sep. 2025
Miranda is now fully gay, split up from Steve (David Eigenberg), her son Brady (Niall Cunningham) a man-child stumbling through his twenties.
—Lyz Lenz, Rolling Stone, 16 Aug. 2025
See All Example Sentences for man-child
Cite this Entry
“Man-child.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/man-child. Accessed 11 Oct. 2025.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
Share