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I'm looking for a word that can sum up something that is largely defined by and composed of - but not restricted to - men.

For example: "My first month at university has been ________; I haven't made any female friends."

Another idea that comes to mind is the movie industry, but that's male-favoring, which I'm not exactly looking for. I'm looking for something that doesn't favor males, but just happens to have drawn in a lot of them, or rather, not drawn in any females.

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  • How about "monk-like"?
    – Hot Licks
    Commented Oct 5, 2017 at 1:05
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    There needs to be a new word for this. Maniserable.
    – Nigel J
    Commented Oct 5, 2017 at 2:33
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    boxing gym, weight room, submarine, gay bar, trouser snake pit, stonewall
    – dandavis
    Commented Oct 5, 2017 at 6:56
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    I know it's not one word, but why not sausage fest?
    – Tijmen
    Commented Oct 6, 2017 at 13:26
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    "stag" ? stag-ey/stag-esque/stag-like
    – moonstar
    Commented Oct 7, 2017 at 7:39

7 Answers 7

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"male-dominated", as in your title, is the term I'd use. Otherwise, if you're open to a slang term, you could use:

sausage-fest A party or gathering where all, or the vast majority of, the participants are male.

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    It has been a “sausage party”, also works.
    – G Tony Jacobs
    Commented Oct 5, 2017 at 3:05
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    Sausage party/fest can have a slightly homophobic/sexist feel to it if you don't have a sarcastic tone. I've most often heard it by (single)guys going to a party/gathering and expect there to be girls there to hit on. At least I feel a bit uncomfortable hearing it.
    – Viktor Mellgren
    Commented Oct 5, 2017 at 13:55
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    @ViktorMellgren: I'm struggling to find a homophobic undertone in your example, regardless of intonation. "Sausage fest" does not in any way imply anything about the sexual preference of the attendees (not even necessarily that of the speaker, e.g. I could call our office party a sausage fest without necessarily implying that I'm trying to pick up women there).
    – Flater
    Commented Oct 5, 2017 at 15:43
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    @ViktorMellgren: The only way I can see somewhat of a homophobic undertone is if you say something like "oh, I know Mike would just love to spend all night at a sausage fest". And even then it remains arguable, since the statement is only calling Mike gay, it's not necessarily saying anything bad about being gay.
    – Flater
    Commented Oct 5, 2017 at 15:48
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    Regardless of any potentially sexist/homophobic connotations, sausage fest/party is a crude idiom, and may not be appropriate for all audiences.
    – barbecue
    Commented Oct 5, 2017 at 20:34
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In the UK (and possibly Australia) you might say: My first term at university has been a bit blokey.

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    I never heard of "blokey", and in your example sentence I wouldn't understand it to mean "mostly consisting of blokes".
    – Mr Lister
    Commented Oct 6, 2017 at 8:47
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    @MrLister: It's definitely a valid word and would be understood in the UK. The trouble is, it typically means "doing stereotypically male activities", so I'd understand that the speaker had spent the first term mostly playing football (say) rather than shopping for clothes - not necessarily that they were with only men and not women...
    – psmears
    Commented Oct 6, 2017 at 14:15
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How about: My first term at university was estrogen-poor. Or - My first term at university was testosterone-heavy, or testosterone-dominated.

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    I haven't heard this term used before, and would guess the wrong meaning for it. (I'd assume that the speaker was referring to biochemistry rather than the sex of their friends, so would interpret it as "I made lots of rash decisions/played lots of contact sports/etc." Or possibly even "I had a medical condition due to a hormonal imbalance, and so missed a lot of lectures.")
    – Andrzej Doyle
    Commented Oct 5, 2017 at 10:26
  • I have heard those terms many times, and they've always been understood. But there is usually more context than just the word itself.
    – user251721
    Commented Oct 5, 2017 at 16:50
  • Reading biology then?
    – Weather Vane
    Commented Oct 5, 2017 at 21:42
  • @WeatherVane ... "reading biology"?
    – Azor Ahai -him-
    Commented Oct 6, 2017 at 0:09
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    @Azor-Ahai: The American / international(?) English translation of "reading biology" would be "studying biology".
    – Peter Cordes
    Commented Oct 6, 2017 at 18:46
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If you are looking for a quip, you could go with "man-tastic". Also, it might help inspire better answers if we could know the gender of the speaker and how he/she feels about the situation stated.

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    Note that this sounds pretty positive, if used in the example sentence given it might imply that the speaker was glad for all the opportunities for flings with different men. Doesn't really sound like the thing they were originally going for, although it might have been.
    – user163011
    Commented Oct 6, 2017 at 21:32
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It is not terribly colloquial, but perhaps the most correct single word is

Androcentric

centered on, emphasizing, or dominated by males or masculine interests

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    beautiful word, but I think it is the exact meaning OP stated they were trying to avoid. Androcentric implies an 'active' focus on men, rather than 'happens to involve / draw men into it'. I would have said "Androphilic" along those lines, but I doubt it exists as a known word.
    – Tasos Papastylianou
    Commented Oct 7, 2017 at 9:50
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My answer cops to the situation, being the first month at uni.

My first month at university has been girl shy.

Or more generally

My friends are all girl shy.

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    As a US English speaker, I would take this to mean "shy around women", especially in your second example sentence.
    – thumbtackthief
    Commented Oct 6, 2017 at 19:38
  • @thumbtackthief well yes, I agree. I posted this because in the first month, the fresher had not made any female friends. It's an angle.
    – Weather Vane
    Commented Oct 6, 2017 at 20:13
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If you'd like to add a bit of a sciencey spin you could do:

My first month at university has been heterogametic.

From the Biology Online Dictionary:

The sex of a species possessing dissimilar sex chromosomes

Supplement

In humans, the heterogametic sex is the male. The gametes produced may contain either X-chromosome or Y-chromosome.

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  • This is a bit confusing on first blush because the group is homogenous, even though "heterogametic" is correct.
    – Azor Ahai -him-
    Commented Oct 6, 2017 at 0:08
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    I'm always amazed when people suggest extraordinarily obscure words that readers/listeners are almost certain to not understand, and yet you see them all over this site.
    – jpmc26
    Commented Oct 6, 2017 at 7:12
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    @jpmc26 But if you hear a word you know you don't know, you can always ask what it means, or look it up. Some of the other answers to this question, while consisting of more common words, can be confusing because they are not as unambiguous.
    – Mr Lister
    Commented Oct 6, 2017 at 8:52
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    @jpmc26 Every word is extraordinarily obscure before you have read/heard it the first time.
    – Masked Man
    Commented Oct 6, 2017 at 14:52
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    @jpmc26: guess what? People who like to play with language hang out and post answers on english.SE. Sometimes that means inventing a possible use for an obscure word. I think most people realize that it's more of a "this is an interesting idea that probably wouldn't really work" thing.
    – Peter Cordes
    Commented Oct 6, 2017 at 18:49

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