McMansion en · NOUN
Etymology
From Mc- + mansion. First use appears c. 1985.
Meanings
-
(US, derogatory, informal) A large, imposing and ostentatious house that lacks architectural integrity.
[…] although the show deliberately showcases various luxury goods […], the overall ambience is extraordinarily bare of style and beauty, offering instead a world of blah décor, undistinguished fashions and cavernous homes that just look like overpriced McMansions.
2025 May 6, Ross Douthat, “Lifestyles of the Rich and Miserable”, in The New York Times, →ISSN:They're ignorant of their social status. They think because they've built a McMansion on twenty acres, they're elite—if you can stand that word.
2006, Rita Mae Brown, The Hounds and the Fury, Center Point Pub., →ISBN, page 112:After decades of ever-rising square footage in the McMansions that dot the suburbs, the idea of downsizing is gaining champions.
1998 September 19, “Getting Smart About Art of Living Small”, in Los Angeles Times:He got out and ambled noisily into his dark, cavernous house. After leaving him and others eerily like him off at their McMansions, I often worry about who else might be inside those houses. My kids would be terrified if I came home like that at 3 a.m.
2020 February 27, Peter Jakubowicz, “The Drunk Men I Drive Around Every Night”, in Slate Magazine:Twenty mansions were planned for the development, each designed to look like the biggest house in town. The McMansion we thought of as ours had an enormous kitchen, more than two stories high.
1998 August 27, Benjamin Cheever, “Life in a Crater Will Do, For Now”, in The New York Times, →ISSN:Such places exist, and they exist just north of the Golden Gate Bridge, through the rainbow tunnel, where McMansions meet divination on Highway 1, Marin County, California.
2016, Melissa Broder, So Sad Today, Grand Central:
Forms
| Spelling | Features | Labels | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| McMansions | Number=Plur | lexicographic |