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

See Examples For:

businessman businessmen

The son-in-law of Indian billionaire businessman Lakshmi Mittal, he had been a director and co-owner of Queens Park Rangers for 18 years before relinquishing his stake in the club last month.

From BBC ● Aug. 14, 2026

He wasn’t sure, but he was a businessman, he told me.

From Slate ● Aug. 14, 2026

Hichilema, a businessman who won office in 2021 on his sixth attempt, has pursued market-friendly reforms, abolished the death penalty and sought to restore investor confidence.

From Barron's ● Aug. 10, 2026

For anyone keeping score, that leaves Trump’s publicly stated resume including businessman, president, golf-course owner — and, apparently, one of the world’s foremost grass experts.

From Salon ● Aug. 9, 2026

The businessman was in worse shape: he had no shoes; one foot was covered in blood; he couldn’t put pressure on his ankle and held onto the cop’s shoulder like a crutch.

From "Eleven" by Tom Rogers

That’s because the group bought the team in 2010 for an estimated $480 million from American businessmen Tom Hicks and George Gillett.

From MarketWatch ● Aug. 10, 2026

He was one of the country’s most prominent businessmen and was Jewish.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 3, 2026

The two often present, especially in court documents, as simple businessmen just trying to make money.

From Salon ● Jul. 20, 2026

Castlelake had proposed going into partnership with two EU nationals, businessmen Peter Bellew and Mark Breen.

From BBC ● Jul. 10, 2026

She peered out at the passengers crowding the terminal: tired-looking families sprawled in seats, dark-suited businessmen sprinting down the aisle.

From "Found" by Margaret Peterson Haddix