swordsman
Americannoun
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Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
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
Cyrano de Bergerac is, we are told, a “soldier, poet, philosopher, magician, playwright … and the best swordsman in Paris.”
From New York Times ● Feb. 25, 2022
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
What became of beautiful Buttercup and poor Westley and Inigo, the greatest swordsman in the history of the world?
From "The Princess Bride" by William Goldman
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
I bet the shortage is due to the swordsmen all being in Syria!
From Time ● Mar. 25, 2013
From the havens of Harad ships of war put out to sea; and out of the East Men were moving endlessly: swordsmen, spearmen, bowmen upon horses, chariots of chieftains and laden wains.
From "The Fellowship of the Ring" by J.R.R. Tolkien
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.
