Skip to main content
Glite Dictionary
🧟 A cannibal 🦈 A dangerous shark
man-eater

man-eater

1 9.8
A person who eats other people
  • noun
  • /ˈmænˌiːtər/
  • NSFW
translation icon : caníbal
  • And she didn't realize what a man eater she was.

Examples

  • Stories of a man-eater who lived in the mountains terrified the villagers for generations.

  • The ancient tales warned travelers about the notorious man-eater who roamed the region.

  • Men and women, boys and girls, this is one of the world's greatest man eaters.

    Croc (2007)

  • I thought about what I was accused of last week... you remember... being a "man eater"...

    Blog text (11)

  • These instances of "man eaters" were not uncommon around native villages and even with professional hunters in the past.

    Academic text (2006)

  • In the dark jungle, the legend of the elusive man-eater persisted among the local tribes.

Synonyms

cannibal
vsman-eater
  • Offensive
66 7.9

A person who eats the meat of other people

is the neutral or formal description rather than the everyday label
anthropophagite
vsman-eater
  • Offensive
9.9

A person who eats other people

is the everyday description of such a person rather than the formal name
anthropophagus
vsman-eater
  • Offensive
9.9

A person who eats other people

is the everyday description of such a person rather than the formal name
creophagist
vsman-eater
  • Offensive
9.9

A person who eats human flesh

is specific to human flesh rather than general flesh eating
anthropophaginian
vsman-eater
  • Offensive
9.9

A person in stories or legends who eats other people

is the plain description of an individual who eats human flesh not a tribe

Surface Forms

man-eater singular
man-eaters plural

Morphology

man-eater = man + eater (transparent) = man + eat + er

The compound is a straightforward combination of 'man' + 'eater' (with 'eater' = eat + -er), so learners who know 'man' and 'eat' can readily infer 'a person who eats humans'.

Etymology

Man-eater is made from man ('adult human') and -eater ('one who eats'), like the simple word meat-eater. So it means a person who eats human flesh, which is why old stories call cannibals 'man-eaters'.