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Definitions

man-to-man

[man-tuh-man] / ˈmæn təˈmæn /
ADJECTIVE
face-to-face
Synonyms
STRONGEST
eye to eye
STRONG
facing
WEAK
one-on-one person-to-person vis-à-vis woman-to-woman
ADJECTIVE
plainspoken
Synonyms
STRONGEST
blunt candid forthright guileless honest matter-of-fact naive outspoken straightforward
WEAK
aboveboard apparent artless bare-faced bold brazen call a spade a spade direct downright easy familiar flat-out free from the hip heart-to-heart ingenuous lay it on the line like it is natural open outright plain plain-spoken real saying what one thinks scrupulous sincere straight straight-out transparent truthful unconcealed undisguised uninhibited unreserved unrestricted up front upright
Antonyms
STRONGEST
artful deceitful devious dishonest lying tactful tricky untruthful
ADJECTIVE
straight-from-the-shoulder
Synonyms
WEAK
aboveboard apparent artless bare-faced blunt bold brazen call a spade a spade candid direct downright easy familiar flat-out forthright free from the hip guileless heart-to-heart honest ingenuous lay it on the line like it is matter-of-fact naive natural open outright outspoken plain plain-spoken plainspoken real saying what one thinks scrupulous sincere straight straight-out straightforward transparent truthful unconcealed undisguised uninhibited unreserved unrestricted up front upright
ADJECTIVE
straight-out
Synonyms
WEAK
aboveboard apparent artless bare-faced blunt bold brazen call a spade a spade candid direct downright easy familiar flat-out forthright free from the hip guileless heart-to-heart honest ingenuous lay it on the line like it is matter-of-fact naive natural open outright outspoken plain plain-spoken plainspoken real saying what one thinks scrupulous sincere straight straightforward transparent truthful unconcealed undisguised uninhibited unreserved unrestricted up front upright
ADJECTIVE
straight-shooting
Synonyms
WEAK
aboveboard apparent artless bare-faced blunt bold brazen call a spade a spade candid direct downright easy familiar flat-out forthright free from the hip guileless heart-to-heart honest ingenuous lay it on the line like it is matter-of-fact naive natural open outright outspoken plain plain-spoken plainspoken real saying what one thinks scrupulous sincere straight straight-out straightforward transparent truthful unconcealed undisguised uninhibited unreserved unrestricted up front upright

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

Bournemouth pressed in a strict, aggressive man-to-man fashion and as they followed the winger into awkward positions, O'Reilly burst into the open space.

From BBC • Apr. 25, 2026

But when Madrid got into Bayern's half, we saw this man-to-man tactic shift into a more structured defensive shape that moved between 4-4-2 and 5-2-3.

From BBC • Apr. 15, 2026

At Brighton, he often asked his teams to engage in a man-to-man press.

From BBC • Apr. 9, 2026

Igor Tudor, who succeed Frank on an interim basis but lasted just seven matches, obviously struggled at Spurs but what he did do was to introduce man-to-man marking as their main defensive tactic.

From BBC • Apr. 9, 2026

It was an isolation offense to run when another team played us man-to-man defense.

From "All American Boys" by Jason Reynolds

Vocabulary lists containing man-to-man

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