Word.ws English Dictionary

it's a man's world

it's a man's world proverb: society is organized in a manner that gives preferential status to males; most positions of authority are occupied by men.

Proverb

it's a man's world

  1. Society is organized in a manner that gives preferential status to males; most positions of authority are occupied by men.
    • The real issue, says Fox, "is whether male and female roles are totally flexible and reversible." As far as Fox is concerned, the answer is no. Millett admits that "[…] All I did was substantiate a cliche which we all know — that it's a man's world."1970 August 31, “Nation: Who's Come a Long Way, Baby?”, in Time, retrieved 07 Jul 2019
    • It's a man's world. But the fact that men dominate television makes it a kind of zoo in which to study them.1995 October 15, Lucy Ellmann, “It's a man's man's world”, in Independent, UK, retrieved 07 Jul 2019

Examples of it's a man's world in a sentence

  • In engineering, it's a man's world — for now.2009 September 16, “Canada’s Best Professional Schools”, in Macleans, Canada, retrieved 07 Jul 2019:
  • "It's a man's world — the top echelons of politics and business here are all dominated by men," said Emily Lau.2011 February 21, Bettina Wassener, “Women Still Face Barriers in Hong Kong”, in New York Times, retrieved 07 Jul 2019:

Questions about it's a man's world

What does it's a man's world mean?
It's a man's world means society is organized in a manner that gives preferential status to males; most positions of authority are occupied by men.
How do you use it's a man's world in a sentence?
In engineering, it's a man's world — for now.
What part of speech is it's a man's world?
It's a man's world is a proverb.

Words near it's a man's world in the dictionary

  1. it's a feature, not a bug
  2. it's a free country
  3. it's a joke, Joyce
  4. it's a jungle out there
  5. it's a long road that has no turning
  6. it's a man's world
  7. it's a matter of time
  8. it's a pleasure
  9. it's a question of time
  10. it's a small world
  11. it's a tough job, but someone's got to do it

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: it's a man's world (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.

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