swordsman
Americannoun
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Etymology
Origin of swordsman
Explanation
A swordsman is a person who is very good at swordplay or fencing. If you are looking to find a swordsman, you should look among Shakespeare's characters. While some people use the word swordsman whether they're talking about a man or a woman, it's increasingly common to use swordswoman for female fencers. These days, most swordsmen take part in the sport of fencing, while in the past a swordsman might actually have engaged in battle or dueled with swords to settle an argument. Before the mid-1600s, the word was swordman, from the Old English sweordfreca.
Vocabulary lists containing swordsman
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:
She’s often hidden away, usually in need of saving, her rescuer the green-outfitted swordsman Link.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 1, 2024
Not to worry, though: Sargon is just as slick a swordsman, with the ability to swing two blades at once, pull off superhuman acrobatics and even stop and rewind time.
From Seattle Times ● Jan. 14, 2024
She’s joined by Edred, a Legolas-type elven swordsman who was Melinda’s lover in a previous life, and Seng, a floating bald kid who recalls Avatar Aang, drifting in and out of the astral plane.
From New York Times ● Jun. 27, 2023
A prolific composer as well an accomplished swordsman, he wrote string quartets, symphonies and concertos while leading one of Europe's best orchestras - Le Concert des Amateurs.
From BBC ● Jan. 27, 2022
"The king, die priest, the rich man—who lives and who dies? Who will the swordsman obey? It's a riddle without an answer, or rather, too many answers. All depends on the man with the sword."
From "A Clash of Kings" by George R.R. Martin
Akira Kurosawa’s tale of a 19th-century samurai who leads a group of swordsmen against a corrupt local governor.
From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 27, 2020
On any given day, the selfie sticks waving in the air along the upper deck give the impression of a band of swordsmen setting off on a raid.
From The Guardian ● Feb. 24, 2018
Sure, the show offers cartoonish heroics like Aliff’s burly Porthos easily outfighting four swordsmen.
From Washington Post ● May 16, 2016
The very notion that Montoya is not the world’s greatest swordsmen?
From Time ● Oct. 20, 2011
They’d look like…well, no one would have any idea what they’d look like: eye-patched pirates, limping pickpockets, scarred swordsmen.
From "The Mona Lisa Vanishes" by Nicholas Day
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Get a wordDefinitions 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.
