journeyman

[ jur-nee-muh n ]

/ ˈdʒɜr ni mən /

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR journeyman ON THESAURUS.COM

noun, plural jour·ney·men.

a person who has served an apprenticeship at a trade or handicraft and is certified to work at it assisting or under another person.

any experienced, competent but routine worker or performer.

a person hired to do work for another, usually for a day at a time.

Nearby words

journalism, journalist, journalistic, journalize, journey, journeyman, journeywork, journo, joust, jouve, jouy print

Origin of journeyman

1425–75; late Middle English journeman, equivalent to journee a day's work (see journey) + man man¹

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for journeyman

He'll be played by Grahame Fox, a journeyman Welsh actor who's appeared on the U.K. soap EastEnders and the TV series Casualty.
Meet Game of Thrones’ Sexy New Season 4 Cast: The Red Viper, Porn Stars, and More|Marlow Stern|April 4, 2014|DAILY BEAST
To play the character, showrunners David Benioff and D.B. Weiss cast Pedro Pascal, a journeyman Chilean-American actor.
Meet the Red Viper: Pedro Pascal on Game of Thrones’ Kinky, Bisexual Hellraiser|Marlow Stern|March 26, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Journeyman players whose only skill is total disregard for their bodies become legends, albeit short-term ones.
Buzz Bissinger on the NFL’s No Good, Very Bad Season|Buzz Bissinger|January 2, 2013|DAILY BEAST
And journeyman Swedish golfer Johan Edfors, who attended the University of Texas San Antonio, is really no match here.
March Madness: Which Celebrity Alumni Will Win?|Michael Solomon|March 17, 2011|DAILY BEAST

“I was a journeyman chef of middling abilities,” Bourdain admits.
America's Bad Boy Chef|Jacob Bernstein|June 13, 2010|DAILY BEAST
Provide yourself, sir, with a journeyman; I'm my country's journeyman; henceforward that's MY line of business.'
Barnaby Rudge|Charles Dickens
Now you have become a journeyman and must accept the responsibility yourself for doing things according to plumb-line and square.
Pelle the Conqueror, Complete|Martin Anderson Nexo
He was bound apprentice to the trade, and afterward worked as,a journeyman for more than twelve years.
Lives of Illustrious Shoemakers|William Edward Winks
With this he came up to London and went to live as a journeyman with an eminent peruke-maker at the Court end of the town.
Lives Of The Most Remarkable Criminals Who have been Condemned and Executed for Murder, the Highway, Housebreaking, Street Robberies, Coining or other offences|Arthur L. Hayward
Journeyman, on the other hand, was nobody at all, a ghost of the fancy.
One of Our Conquerors, Complete|George Meredith

British Dictionary definitions for journeyman

journeyman

/ (ˈdʒɜːnɪmən) /

noun plural -men

a craftsman, artisan, etc, who is qualified to work at his trade in the employment of another

a competent workman

(formerly) a worker hired on a daily wage

Word Origin for journeyman

C15: from journey (in obsolete sense: a day's work) + man

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Culture definitions for journeyman

journeyman

A skilled artisan who works on hire for master artisans rather than for himself.