placeman

American  

[plays-muhn] / ˈpleɪs mən /

noun

British.

• placemen
  plural

1. a person appointed to a position, especially one in the government, as a reward for political support of an elected official.

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placeman British  

/ ˈpleɪsmən /

noun

1. derogatory a person who holds a public office, esp for private profit and as a reward for political support

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• placemanship
  noun

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• placemen
  plural

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Etymology

Origin of placeman

First recorded in 1735–45; place + -man

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Example Sentences

See Examples For:

placeman placemen

Mr Sharif has installed a loyal placeman, Shahid Khaqan Abbasi, previously the minister for natural resources, as interim prime minister.

From Economist ● Aug. 3, 2017

Meanwhile, far from being a Whelan placeman, Cryer was another of his targets.

From The Guardian ● Mar. 21, 2010

Newcastle never counted the cost so long as there was a county member to be bought or a placeman to be satisfied.

From A History of the Four Georges and of William IV, Volume III by Justin McCarthy

These political phases were not the acquiescence of a placeman, or indifferentist, in mutations for which he does not care; still less were they changes either of party or of opinion.

From Milton by Mark Pattison

The only charge which malice can prefer against me is that I am a placeman.

From Life and Letters of Lord Macaulay Volume 1 by Sir George Otto Trevelyan

But while the administrators controlled Polly Peck's assets on paper and in law, in Northern Cyprus and Turkey those properties and businesses remained firmly in the hands of the tycoon's placemen.

From The Guardian ● Aug. 26, 2012

We should not place too literal a construction upon the repinings of disappointed placemen.

From The Atlantic Monthly, Volume 2, No. 14, December 1858 by Various

No less than 44 seats were occupied by placemen, 32 by gentlemen who had promises of pensions, 12 by gentlemen who stood out for higher prices from Government.

From The Land-War In Ireland (1870) A History For The Times by James Godkin

The cry was now for two drastic measures of change: the political emancipation of the Catholics, and a reform of Parliament substituting freedom of election for nomination and clearing the legislature of pensioners and placemen.

From Irish History and the Irish Question by Goldwin Smith

He would have disfranchised the rotten boroughs and excluded placemen from Parliament.

From Political Thought in England from Locke to Bentham by Harold Joseph Laski

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