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Sweatpants are a casual variety of soft trousers intended for comfort or athletic purposes. In Britain, Australia and New Zealand they are known as jogging bottoms or trackpants.

Sweatpants are usually made from cotton, and the chief characteristic distinguishing them from other athletic pants is the elastic band located around the waist. Also, many sweatpants do not have pockets. Sweatpants are traditionally ash gray in color but are now available in essentially any color. They are usually quite "baggy" and loose, which makes them easy to slip into (and out of) and allows a great deal of flexibility and comfort. In addition, this design traps less heat than most conventional, lightweight trousers, which may be a disadvantage in some contexts (such as cold temperatures) and an advantage in others (such as body heat-increasing aerobic activities). The sweatpant variations listed below are made from different materials.

There are many variations on the sweatpant design that have evolved to define their own categories of athletic pants. These variations include fashion pants, windpants, tearaway pants, and muscle pants.

"The Man" is a slang phrase that may refer to the government or to some other authority in a position of power. In addition to this derogatory connotation, it may also serve as a term of respect and praise.

The phrase "the Man is keeping me down" is commonly used to describe oppression. The phrase "stick it to the Man" encourages resistance to authority, and essentially means "fight back" or "resist", either openly or via sabotage.

The earliest recorded use^{[citation needed]} of the term "the Man" in the American sense dates back to a letter written by a young Alexander Hamilton in September 1772, when he was 15. In a letter to his father James Hamilton, published in the Royal Dutch-American Gazette, he described the response of the Dutch governor of St. Croix to a hurricane that raked that island on August 31, 1772. "Our General has issued several very salutary and humane regulations and both in his publick and private measures, has shewn himself the Man." ^{[dubious – discuss]} In the Southern U.S. states, the phrase came to be applied to any man or any group in a position of authority, or to authority in the abstract. From about the 1950s the phrase was also an underworld code word for police, the warden of a prison or other law enforcement or penal authorities.