man-about-town

noun

ˌman-ə-ˌbau̇t-ˈtau̇n How to pronounce man-about-town (audio)
plural men-about-town ˌmen-ə-ˌbau̇t-ˈtau̇n How to pronounce man-about-town (audio)
: a worldly and socially active man

Examples of man-about-town in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web
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.
There’s even a glimpse of man-about-town Colin Firth in this trailer. — Emily Temple, Literary Hub, 27 Feb. 2026 D’Angelo instantly hit it off with the charismatic man-about-town. — Keith Murphy, VIBE.com, 12 Dec. 2025 But Jaglom was known for being a man-about-town in Los Angeles almost as much as for his films. — Bethy Squires, Vulture, 25 Sep. 2025 The magazine’s first employee was Rea Irvin, a charismatic and worldly man-about-town—known for his distinctive fedora with a wide brim—who had been an actor, a comic-strip artist, and an art editor. — Françoise Mouly, The New Yorker, 5 Feb. 2024 See All Example Sentences for man-about-town

Word History

First Known Use

1734, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of man-about-town was in 1734

Rhymes for man-about-town

See All Rhymes for man-about-town

Browse Nearby Words

mana
man-about-town
manaca
See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Man-about-town.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/man-about-town. Accessed 8 Jul. 2026.

Copy Citation
Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!

More from Merriam-Webster

Word of the Day

Listen to the pronunciation of gambol

See Definitions and Examples »

Popular in Grammar & Usage

See More

Is that lie 'bald-faced' or 'bold-faced'?

'A' or 'an'? What about before 'h'? An Indefinite Article Guide

Why is '-ed' sometimes pronounced at the end of a word?

Commonly Misspelled Words

How to Use Em Dashes (—), En Dashes (–) , and Hyphens (-)
See More

Popular in Wordplay

See More

14 Phobias You Probably Haven't Heard Of

The Longest Long Words List

One-Word Oxymorons: Bittersweet, Spendthrift, and More

Ten Words Ending with a Silent ‘T’

12 Lovely and Unusual Words for the Natural World
See More

Popular

See More

Is that lie 'bald-faced' or 'bold-faced'?

14 Phobias You Probably Haven't Heard Of

The Longest Long Words List
See More

Games & Quizzes

See All
Play Quordle: Guess all four words in a limited number of tries. Each of your guesses must be a real 5-letter word.
Quordle Can you solve 4 words at once?
Play Blossom: Solve today's spelling word game by finding as many words as you can using just 7 letters. Longer words score more points.
Blossom Pick the best words!
Play Missing Letter: a crossword with a twist. Each of the 25 puzzle words start with a different letter of the alphabet. Which letter is missing?
The Missing Letter A daily crossword with a twist
hangman letters and game
Hangman Lightning Round Figure out which word fits in the blanks.
See All