noun
-
a person who owns or operates oil wells
-
a person who makes or sells oil
Gender
See -man.
Etymology
Origin of oilman
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.
But what is opportunity to one oilman is “uninvestable” to another.
From MarketWatch • Jan. 14, 2026
Texas oilman Rod Lewis has made millions drilling in places even other wildcatters find too dangerous.
From The Wall Street Journal • Jan. 12, 2026
He’s an oilman who invested in environmentally questionable projects; she’s a climate scientist.
From New York Times • May 30, 2024
Buckley was the fourth of 10 children of a millionaire oilman and older brother of conservative commentator William F. Buckley Jr., who died in February 2008.
From Seattle Times • Aug. 18, 2023
That August, as the number of suspicious deaths continued to climb, many Osage prevailed upon Barney McBride, a wealthy fifty-five-year-old white oilman, to go to Washington, D.C., and ask federal authorities to investigate.
From "Killers of the Flower Moon" by David Grann
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.
