Meaning & use
mankini
Last updated
Meaning
nouncountableinformalhumorous
A very small, revealing swimsuit for men, typically a thong-like garment with shoulder straps.
Grammar: Countable: you can say 'a mankini' or 'mankinis' for more than one.
Patterns
- wear a mankini
- in a mankini
He wore a bright green mankini to the beach party, and everyone laughed.
The costume shop sold out of mankinis before the summer festival.
She dared her brother to put on a mankini for the charity swim.
Word forms
| plural | mankinis |
|---|
Common combinations
- wear a mankini
- He decided to wear a mankini to the pool party.
- in a mankini
- She appeared in a mankini in the comedy sketch.
- brightly colored mankini
- The brightly colored mankini was hard to miss.
- mankini trend
- The mankini trend faded quickly after that summer.
Synonyms and how they differ
- swim brief
- A swim brief is a standard, less revealing men's swimsuit, not a humorous thong-like garment.
- Speedo
- Speedo is a brand name often used generically for tight swim briefs, but it does not have the same comedic or revealing connotation as mankini.
Commonly confused: mankini or bikini? mankini or monokini?
mankini vs bikini
A bikini is a two-piece swimsuit for women; a mankini is a similar but one-piece garment for men, often worn for humor.
mankini vs monokini
A monokini is a one-piece swimsuit for women, sometimes with cutouts; a mankini is specifically for men and is typically more revealing.
Practice
Which sentence uses 'mankini' correctly?
Choose one answer.
A mankini is a men's swimsuit, so 'He wore a mankini to the swimming pool' is correct. Option An is wrong because a mankini is for men, not women. Option C is wrong because it is not a business suit. Option D is wrong because it is not food.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “mankini”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.