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:
Hernandez-Ariano, a qualified insurance salesman, warns that those selling insurance are not held to the same high standards of fiduciary responsibility as financial planners.
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 23, 2026
My father, Ether Furnier, began as a salesman but because he had learned drafting in the Navy, he became an electronics engineer.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 6, 2026
Kimi Chi, a salesman from the central city of Taichung, had travelled through the night to be able to photograph the aircraft landing in Taitung.
From Barron's ● Oct. 2, 2026
Her father Leo Steinem was a travelling salesman and, together with her mother Ruth and older sister Susanne, they lived in a caravan, crisscrossing the country.
From BBC ● Sep. 3, 2026
White tracked down the insurance salesman who had originally sold Roan the policy in 1921.
From "Killers of the Flower Moon" by David Grann
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
It’s often surprising how few people — including not only investors but also Wall Street salesmen — actually seem to understand stock prices.
From MarketWatch ● Jun. 5, 2026
Carvana underwrites its own loans, giving it an advantage to used car salesmen, reflected in its cars worth $500 to $1000 versus rivals after reconditioning, helped by its scale, Bellas said.
From Barron's ● May 13, 2026
"We joke about basically being travelling T-shirt salesmen," singer Patrick Turner says.
From BBC ● Apr. 24, 2026
In the world of car salesmen, Golomb is a virtuoso.
From "Blink" by Malcolm Gladwell
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Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
