marksman
Americannoun
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marksmen
plural
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a person who is skilled in shooting at a mark; a person who shoots well.
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Military.
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the lowest rating in rifle marksmanship, below that of sharpshooter and expert.
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a person who has achieved such a rating.
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noun
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a person skilled in shooting
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a serviceman selected for his skill in shooting, esp for a minor engagement
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a qualification awarded in certain armed services for skill in shooting
Gender
See -man.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of marksman
Explanation
A marksman is someone who is excellent at shooting a gun. A skilled marksman hits the bull’s eye every time. The word mark is from the Middle English word for “target,” so a marksman is a man (or woman) who has excellent aim and shoots a target. In many westerns, the hero is a marksman capable of hitting a small target that’s far away. In real life, police officers and members of the military are trained to be marksmen. Women can be marksmen, too, but if the name bugs you, call them sharpshooters.
Vocabulary lists containing marksman
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Boots on the Ground: America's War in Vietnam
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Tristan Strong Punches a Hole in the Sky
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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:
A 3-pointer, especially for a marksman of his caliber, is one of the highest-value attempts in the sport.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 20, 2026
Los Angeles FC marksman Denis Bouanga then fired in Gabon's second, leaving Emerse Fae's team up against it.
From Barron's ● Dec. 31, 2025
Darwin Nunez has had three full seasons at Liverpool since completing a move worth up to £85m from Benfica – but is no nearer proving he is the reliable and consistent marksman they need.
From BBC ● Apr. 28, 2025
A marksman, she has been deployed to the mountains of eastern Afghanistan, the Baltic states and South Korea.
From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 2, 2025
He was a marksman of no mean ability; he was, moreover, stubbornly tenacious under his mild manner—two facts well- enough known around town to make the night prowlers wary for several weeks.
From "Across Five Aprils" by Irene Hunt
Uniformed marksmen spray the mob with cold water.
From Slate ● Jun. 24, 2026
Some 68,800 witnesses were convinced that one of the greatest marksmen of all time was going to run-up and smash it.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 23, 2026
An XL Bully believed to be the same dog which escaped when marksmen opened fire on it last week has been found and put down, police have said.
From BBC ● Apr. 11, 2025
A hero, an ace swashbuckler and an expert marksmen, no one ever wonders if Link is too delicate to save the magical kingdom of Hyrule.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 1, 2024
It was a lot harder than it looked but after a while I got pretty good thanks to all the expert marksmen hanging around disguised as milkmaids.
From "How I Live Now" by Meg Rosoff
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.
