swordsman
Americannoun
Other Word Forms
- swordsmanship noun
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.
Since then, he has worked with such masters as Hirokazu Kore-eda, Wong Kar-wai, Martin Scorsese and Kenneth Branagh, but might be best known to samurai fans for 2003’s “Zatoichi,” playing the legendary blind swordsman.
From Los Angeles Times • Aug. 20, 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
It attacks with all the dexterity of a trained fencer, but with none of the fatigue of a swordsman.
From "Kwame Crashes the Underworld" by Craig Kofi Farmer
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.
