sweetman
Dated AAVE term for a man kept by a woman — a male equivalent of a kept woman, often with the additional connotation of being a pimp who is financially supported by a woman in his stable.
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Dated AAVE term for a man kept by a woman — a male equivalent of a kept woman, often with the additional connotation of being a pimp who is financially supported by a woman in his stable. The 'sweet' element suggests charm and attractiveness rather than brutality, painting a picture of a smooth operator who leverages good looks and personality. Largely historical now but documented in early 20th-century African American vernacular.
Back in the day the sweetman didn't work — he let his lady handle the bills while he stayed fly.
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(AAVE, dated) A male pimp.
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Slang from Black American Vernacular English (AAVE), hip-hop, drag and ballroom culture, the Caribbean, and NYC street vocabulary. The single largest source of new mainstream English slang in living memory.
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Semantically related
- fancy man63%
(dated) A man who is fancied: a sweetheart.
- honey dip62%
(AAVE) An attractive woman.
- honey dip61%
AAVE slang for an attractive woman — specifically one with a warm, smooth appeal that the honey metaphor captures perfectly. Sweet, desirable, effortlessly appealing. In some usages it refers particularly to a light-skinned Black woman, reflecting colorism-inflected language within AAVE. The term shows up in hip-hop lyrics and urban vernacular from the 1990s onward, used to compliment someone's appearance with that smooth, flowing energy the phrase carries.
- city boy60%
(AAVE, slang) A man who prioritizes his own financial success and lifestyle over romantic relationships with women.