middleman
Americannoun
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middlemen
plural
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a person who plays an economic role intermediate between producer and retailer or consumer.
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a person who acts as an intermediary.
noun
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an independent trader engaged in the distribution of goods from producer to consumer
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an intermediary
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theatre the interlocutor in minstrel shows
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of middleman
1400–50; late Middle English: maker of girdles; see middle, man
Explanation
A middleman is someone who works buying goods from one source and selling them to another. For example, if you are selling your house, your real estate agent acts as the middleman between you and the buyer. Anyone whose job involves buying and re-selling can be called a middleman, although sometimes the thing being sold is some kind of service rather than physical goods. One example of a middleman is a wholesaler who buys fruit and vegetables from farmers and then distributes them to large supermarkets. While sometimes it makes more sense for farmers to sell directly to stores, a middleman can simplify the process.
Vocabulary lists containing middleman
History of India - Introductory
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History of India - Middle School and High School
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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:
Alvarez’s intervention work primarily focused on using his gang contacts to help quash disputes and acting as a middleman between people scared to report crimes to police and law enforcement officials, according to Garcia-Leys.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 9, 2026
Your new passport may or may not arrive faster than if you had filled out the paperwork yourself, even if you are paying an extra fee for this opportunistic middleman.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 30, 2026
Muscat now finds itself caught between the wishes of Washington, and Tehran wants to maintain, above all else, its longstanding reputation as the region's discreet diplomatic middleman.
From BBC ● Jul. 14, 2026
The companies also coordinated off-exchange egg trades at premium prices, which were submitted to the middleman that tallies the benchmark price.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 30, 2026
Working as a kind of headhunter, John became the middleman, finding the right skilled, trustworthy crews to do the jobs.
From "The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind" by William Kamkwamba
Even if tankers disappear while crossing Hormuz, much of that oil should eventually show up in data on barrels unloaded to buyers or middlemen.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 24, 2026
The Ga people became middlemen who traded with Europeans.
From BBC ● Aug. 16, 2026
Investigators say that scarcity has fuelled increasingly sophisticated paper-leak rackets, linking teachers, middlemen and exam-centre staff.
From BBC ● Jul. 29, 2026
And unlike Uber or DoorDash, which largely act as middlemen, quick-commerce firms carry the cost of leasing warehouses.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 23, 2026
That way, they could have the prized Asian spices they wanted without having to pay high prices to Venetian and Muslim middlemen.
From "Sugar Changed the World: A Story of Magic, Spice, Slavery, Freedom, and Science" by Marc Aronson
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.
