showman

American  

[shoh-muhn] / ˈʃoʊ mən /

noun

plural

showmen

1. a person who presents or produces a show, especially of a theatrical nature.

2. a person who is gifted in doing or presenting things theatrically or dramatically.

   He didn't have much voice but was a great showman.

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showman British  

/ ˈʃəʊmən /

noun

1. a person who presents or produces a theatrical show, etc

2. a person skilled at presenting anything in an effective manner

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Other Word Forms

• showmanly adverb
• showmanship noun

Etymology

Origin of showman

First recorded in 1725–35; show + -man

Example Sentences

Brazilian showman Lucas Pinheiro Braathen bagged South America's first-ever Winter Olympic medal on Saturday, his giant slalom victory capping a dream for the self-proclaimed individualist.

From Barron's • Feb. 14, 2026

Braathen, racing for his mother's homeland of Brazil after falling out with the Norwegian ski federation, has two second-placed finishes this season and the showman has his sights firmly on a medal in Bormio.

From Barron's • Feb. 12, 2026

With all that pressure on the back-flipping showman of figure skating, he did something that nobody else on the planet could have done.

From The Wall Street Journal • Feb. 9, 2026

Though Cerf came to regret selling, the main thing that worried him in the moment was whether he could keep appearing on CBS’s “What’s My Line?”—a showman to the last.

From The Wall Street Journal • Jan. 30, 2026

Khrushchev was a showman and a gambler, agency doctors concluded.

From "Fallout: Spies, Superbombs, and the Ultimate Cold War Showdown" by Steve Sheinkin