The phrase "a man was defined" is correct and usable in written English.
It can be used in contexts where you are discussing the characteristics, qualities, or identity of a man, often in a philosophical or analytical discussion.
Example: "In the context of the story, a man was defined not just by his actions, but by his thoughts and beliefs."
Alternatives: "a man was characterized" or "a man was described".
A man was defined, in my father's circles, by what he could bear, the pain he could shrug off, the warmth or comfort he could deny himself".
In the Old West a man was defined by his hat.
And in that world (and in many young men's worlds), being a man was defined as liking women, while ironically hating any action that might be construed as feminine.
For Mr. Mann, a man is defined by what he is does: in "Heat," the thief (Robert De Niro) and the detective (Al Pacino), equally dogged, have no lives other than their occupations.
She found a quote from Nijinsky saying that modern man was defined by his dances, "the tango and the turkey trot".
If Sartre thought that man was defined by his actions, Lanzmann was, in the most concrete way, a man of action.
The "reference man" was defined as males aged ≥ 18 years, undertaking light physical activity, whose daily reference energy intake was 2400 kcal [ 22].
She argues that the episode makes the point that a "perfectly normal" black man looks a certain way, pointing out that the episode states that a black man is defined by a "certain skin pigment".
A gender equitable man is defined as a man who is respectful to women, who believes that men and women should have equal rights, and who shares responsibility in the household.
It was pretty clear that such thoughts are not expected of men, though: their poetry is set as a kind of default mode, echoing Simone de Beauvoir's idea that "man is defined as a human being and a woman as female".
"Man is defined as a human being and woman as a female – whenever she behaves as a human being she is said to imitate the male".
