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.

---

businessman British  

/ ˈbɪznɪsˌmæn, -mən /

noun

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

---

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

Businessman and billionaire Mark Cuban encourages young workers to pay attention to where they put their time and effort.

From MarketWatch • Jun. 22, 2026

Businessman Jeremy Padawer, who also lost his home, said the disaster opened Pratt’s eyes to the “extreme lack of accountability” by the city.

From Los Angeles Times • May 21, 2026

Businessman Low Taek Jho, better known as Jho Low, is formally seeking a "pardon after completion of sentence," according to the US Department of Justice website.

From Barron's • May 13, 2026

Businessman Mr Low, who funnelled money to Michel, was accused of stealing about $4bn from Malaysia's sovereign wealth fund during the infamous 1MDB scandal.

From BBC • Nov. 21, 2025

With this new contract, he was a sure bet for the Chamber of Commerce Businessman of 1968.

From "The Wednesday Wars" by Gary D. Schmidt