auctioneer
Americannoun
verb (used with object)
-
auctioneers,
present (3rd person singular)
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auctioneered,
past participle, past
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auctioneering
present participle
noun
verb
Other Word Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
auctioneersimple
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auctioneerssimple
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have auctioneeredperfect
-
has auctioneeredperfect
-
am auctioneeringprogressive
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are auctioneeringprogressive
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is auctioneeringprogressive
-
have been auctioneeringperfect progressive
-
has been auctioneeringperfect progressive
Past
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auctioneeredsimple
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had auctioneeredperfect
-
was auctioneeringprogressive
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were auctioneeringprogressive
-
had been auctioneeringperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of auctioneer
Explanation
An auctioneer is a person who manages an auction, or a public sale at which people can bid on items. It's exciting to win the bidding at an auction and hear the auctioneer shout, "Sold!" It's the job of an auctioneer to organize the goods for sale at an auction, as well as to oversee the bidding, often encouraging bidders to compete with each other to drive the price up. Some auctioneers call out items and prices in a distinctive, rapid, sing-song voice. Auctioneer comes from auction, which has a Latin root: auctionem, "increasing sale or public sale," from augere, "to increase."
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.
See Examples For:
Ann Thorpe, an auctioneer at Dartmoor Auctions, said "I think you do sometimes get ironic buys. Things like people's secret Santa presents and that kind of thing."
From BBC ● Mar. 20, 2026
The former Christie’s auctioneer, author, podcaster and motivational speaker is normally unflappable on the podium.
From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 24, 2026
Being an effective auctioneer, students are told, is about controlling cadence, pitch, projection and resonance.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Dec. 28, 2025
Then as he droned on like a dentist drill hitting bone, he began to sound like a South Carolina auctioneer at a county fair.
From Salon ● Dec. 19, 2025
“Who will give me one hundred?” cried the auctioneer.
From "A Dance with Dragons" by George R. R. Martin
More than 100 silver items, dating from the early 1700s to the early 1900s, had been expected to fetch up to £23,000 when they were offered for sale at Elmwood's auctioneers in London.
From BBC ● Jul. 4, 2026
"I was surprised, that's it," said Hodara during a phone call with auctioneers after the draw.
From BBC ● Apr. 14, 2026
Leo Denham, managing director of Denhams auctioneers, said: "There has been a lot of interest from collectors in America and around the world."
From BBC ● Feb. 25, 2026
The lots, which also include the so-called Marauder's Map from the "Harry Potter" films, have a combined pre-sale estimate of $9 million, according to Propstore, the auctioneers staging the sale.
From Barron's ● Feb. 25, 2026
Onlookers chewed fresh oysters and hot corn as the auctioneers shouted into the air.
From "The Underground Railroad: A Novel" by Colson Whitehead
There, he would partake in a hobby perfectly suited to his sense of urgency and penchant for squeezing as much as he can into the time he has: auctioneering.
From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 5, 2024
During the heady days of the dot-com bubble, McCormick was CEO of the internet auctioneering house FreeMarkets - amassing wealth as he steered the Pittsburgh-based company to a nearly $500 million acquisition deal in 2004.
From Washington Times ● Aug. 14, 2023
Though he was the picture of fast-talking auctioneering bluster during the event, he says that he “had a rough night” after appraising each gun at the coroner’s office a few weeks ago.
From Slate ● Nov. 12, 2014
Springsteen briefly took over auctioneering duties before being honored as MusiCares person of the year Friday night, exhorting the crowd to bid on a signed Fender electric guitar by amping up the deal.
From Seattle Times ● Feb. 9, 2013
But Mills, with his auctioneering, atlases, and projects, failed, whereby poor Scott lost above half his means. . . .
From The Book-Hunter in London Historical and Other Studies of Collectors and Collecting by W. (William) Roberts
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.
