businesslike
Americanadjective
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conforming to, attending to, or characteristic of business.
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efficient, practical, or realistic.
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capable but unenthusiastic.
adjective
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efficient and methodical
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earnest or severe
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Etymology
Origin of businesslike
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Ms. Thompson’s Jacki is at first businesslike, but her warmth toward Nick and her dismay at his plight are revealed when she, too, addresses us directly.
From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 16, 2026
The senior Ukrainian source told AFP that the tone of rhetoric between the White House and Kyiv was now "very businesslike."
From Barron's • Oct. 16, 2025
No crowns or robes, with the King looking businesslike in a suit.
From BBC • May 27, 2025
He might therefore follow the inclinations of certain of his key economic advisers like transition leader Lutnick, who favor a more pragmatic, businesslike relationship with China.
From Salon • Dec. 28, 2024
The president described his five-day trip in one simple, businesslike sentence: “Set out from Mount Vernon the 28 October & arrived at Germantown the 1st of Novemr.”
From "An American Plague: The True and Terrifying Story of the Yellow Fever Epidemic of 1793" by Jim Murphy
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
