Calling a man a bitch, meaning? (2025)

Hello members!

In crime movies, I often hear man calling another man a bitch, or even, a woman calling a man a bitch when they find that guy annoying or when they are angry.
Does it mean the word "bitch" can also mean 'a unpleasant, annoying man'? Because it is usually used to refer to a unpleasant woman?
Is it worse than 'douchebag' than?

I think we say "You're a bitch" to a man when a man is being a bitch, like a woman, if he were acting like a woman.
Is that a more accurate meaning of the word?

Please explain!
Thanks!

I think that in many cases when it is said to a man with the intent of insulting him the emphasis isn't on the man actually acting like a woman, it's more about taking on a trait that is not considered to be "masculine". So if you say that a guy is acting like a bitch it may be that he is acting like a "coward", with the implication that men are more "brave" in the sense that they will engage in physically dangerous activities more often than women for example. So, it you see a couple of guys getting into a loud argument and one is walking backwards a bit to avoid a physical fight the other might call him a "bitch" for trying to avoid it. It's not that you'd think he looks like or acts like a woman per se.

I also think it can be used very generically as an insult, almost like saying "you jerk/idiot/asshole" etc, or jokingly without intent to insult. In neither of those cases it is meant to be taken all that literally or to imply a feminine appearance. Of course I agree with cyberpedant that this type of slang varies greatly.

Yes, "bitch" to refer to a man might be an intended affront to his masculinity or intended to suggest the man is somehow weak.

There are any number of potential meanings though, and the word might simply be used as a generic insult, marking a thorough lack of respect for the person.