Word.ws English Dictionary

dick-measuring contest

dick-measuring contest noun: a situation in which people (usually men) compete, often over superficial characteristics, to demonstrate their worthiness, power, etc.

Noun

dick-measuring contest (plural dick-measuring contests)

  1. (figuratively, slang, vulgar) A situation in which people (usually men) compete, often over superficial characteristics, to demonstrate their worthiness, power, etc.
    • “Because I'm a woman in a dick-measuring contest,” 6 says. “Business is a man's game, and they don't like me playing. Opening my mouth is a challenge to their masculinity.”2000, Max Barry, Syrup: A Novel (movie tie-in), Penguin, →ISBN
    • What began as a chance to serve genius— better than diving in to that moat in Zenda, eh, Fred? Degenerates into a vulgar dick-measuring contest: show me your genius and I'll show you mine. Only Kubrick won't play. He keeps his zipped up.2008, Gary Don Rhodes, Stanley Kubrick: Essays on His Films and Legacy, McFarland

Examples of dick-measuring contest in a sentence

  • Unless Jim wants to try to quote Bible verses at it.” / Jennifer put up her hands, said, “Guys, let's not make this a dick-measuring contest, okay?”2009, David Wong, John Dies at the End, Macmillan, →ISBN, page 153:
  • She didn't doubt that Dor was baiting the man on purpose, trying to draw him into a dick-measuring contest so he would be less likely to question their story that they were together.2011, Sophie Littlefield, Rebirth, Harlequin, →ISBN:

Synonyms of dick-measuring contest

Forms of dick-measuring contest

pluraldick-measuring contests

Questions about dick-measuring contest

What does dick-measuring contest mean?
Dick-measuring contest means a situation in which people (usually men) compete, often over superficial characteristics, to demonstrate their worthiness, power, etc.
How do you use dick-measuring contest in a sentence?
Unless Jim wants to try to quote Bible verses at it.” / Jennifer put up her hands, said, “Guys, let's not make this a dick-measuring contest, okay?”
What part of speech is dick-measuring contest?
Dick-measuring contest is a noun.
What is the plural of dick-measuring contest?
The plural of dick-measuring contest is dick-measuring contests.

Words near dick-measuring contest in the dictionary

  1. dick-head
  2. dick-headedly
  3. dick-heads
  4. dick-lick
  5. dick-licks
  6. dick-measuring contest
  7. dick-measuring contests
  8. dick-print
  9. dick-prints
  10. dick-root
  11. dick-roots

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: dick-measuring contest (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

Last updated:

Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Flame, not lame-dick-measuring contest.wav.

Cite this entry: “dick-measuring contest.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/dick-measuring_contest. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.