salesman
Americannoun
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salesmen
plural
noun
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Gender-neutral form: salesperson. Also called: saleswoman. salesgirl. saleslady. a person who sells merchandise or services either in a shop or by canvassing in a designated area
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short for travelling salesman
Usage
What does salesman mean? A salesman is a man whose job is to sell products or services. The plural of salesman is salesmen. The equivalent term for a woman is saleswoman. Both terms are still commonly used, but salesperson and sales rep (or sales representative) are often used in their place. A salesman is often said to “work in sales”—in which sales refers to the type of occupation or the division or department within a company. A salesman can sell directly to customers or to other businesses or organizations. Sometimes, salesmen sell things in person, such as at a retail store or dealership. They also commonly sell things over the phone or by communicating with people online. In the past, it was common for some salesmen to travel door-to-door to make sales to people at home, leading to the term door-to-door salesman. A salesman who has to travel as part of his job can be called a traveling salesman. The word salesman is sometimes used in a somewhat figurative way to refer to someone who’s skilled at persuading people, especially in a business or professional setting, as if they are selling them a product. This skill or quality can be called salesmanship. Example: The salesman told me that this was the best deal he could give me.
Gender
See -man.
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of salesman
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:
Ann Keen was 17 and working in a toilet roll factory in Ewloe, Flintshire, when she was asked out by a handsome salesman.
From BBC ● Aug. 30, 2026
This makes him an ideal mark for a certain kind of salesman.
From Salon ● Aug. 27, 2026
Belgium's Prince Laurent has legally recognised 26-year-old former car salesman Clément Vandenkerckhove as his son and heir.
From BBC ● Aug. 20, 2026
To my knowledge, Carney’s creator is neither crook nor salesman, but Whitehead can lay claim to those other two mantles.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 20, 2026
But he is also a great salesman because he understands when to put the brakes on that process: when to consciously resist a particular kind of snap judgment.
From "Blink" by Malcolm Gladwell
You can see why Wall Street salesmen are lying to you.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 10, 2026
Like “Born in the U.S.A.” and “Rockin’ in the Free World,” “Pink Houses” was practically destined to be misinterpreted by elected salesmen peddling easy fantasies.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 10, 2026
Several stars took on side gigs as car salesmen, of sorts.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 6, 2026
Back in 1879, those clerks and salesmen and their wives who frequented bucket shops understood they were operating outside the bounds of Wall Street.
From Barron's ● Apr. 7, 2026
“Why do you keep going to these snake oil salesmen? It’s been years and nothing you’ve done has brought your gift back,” Grandma snaps.
From "Split the Sky" by Marie Arnold
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.
