businessman

American  

[biz-nis-man] / ˈbɪz nɪsˌmæn /

noun

businessmen plural

1. a man regularly employed in business, especially a white-collar worker, executive, or owner.

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businessman British  

/ ˈbɪznɪsˌmæn, -mən /

noun

1. a person, esp a man, engaged in commercial or industrial business, esp as an owner or executive

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Usage

There is a gender-neutral form, businessperson , but it does not appear to be very widely used. The plural business people is quite widely used, and if you wish to avoid being gender-specific, you could try recasting your sentence to use the plural

Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• businessmen
  plural

Etymology

Origin of businessman

First recorded in 1705–15; business + man

Example Sentences

His wealth represents a sort of aspirational model for many people of that class, even though he inherited his wealth, mostly thank to the reality show that portrayed him as a hugely successful self-made businessman.

From Salon • Jun. 16, 2026

On November 21, Albanian businessman Artur Shehu agrees to sell land in Zvernec to Albania Land Development for an estimated 5.5 million euros.

From Barron's • Jun. 15, 2026

O’Leary had a supporting role in the film “Marty Supreme,” in which he played a hard-nosed businessman not unlike his “Shark Tank” persona.

From The Wall Street Journal • Jun. 14, 2026

As a businessman, his primary goal was selling pay-per-views, which he accomplished by developing a reputation for arranging interesting, well-matched fights.

From Slate • Jun. 14, 2026

Spaulding represented a new kind of Southern black businessman, eschewing the servile role whites demanded of blacks.

From "The Best of Enemies" by Osha Gray Davidson