tradesman

American  

[traydz-muhn] / ˈtreɪdz mən /

noun

• tradesmen
  plural

1. a person engaged in trade.

2. a worker skilled in a particular craft; artisan; craftsman.

3. Chiefly British. a shopkeeper.

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tradesman British  

/ ˈtreɪdzmən /

noun

1. a man engaged in trade, esp a retail dealer

2. a skilled worker

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Gender

See -man.

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• tradeswoman
  noun

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• tradesmen
  plural

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Etymology

Origin of tradesman

First recorded in 1590–1600; trade + 's ¹ + -man

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Example Sentences

See Examples For:

tradesman tradesmen

Suzanne, a nurse, felt guilty about medical costs and needing so much care and taking Rick, a self-employed tradesman, away from his job.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jan. 10, 2026

Fifteen years later, the tradesman stood outside Crane’s old spray booth, sanding a $25,000 rosewood bench.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 16, 2025

The first—the shark—comes from Steven Spielberg’s 1975 blockbuster Jaws, in which a sheriff, a scientist, and a tradesman roll up their sleeves and put themselves in harm’s way to defeat a ferocious great white.

From Slate ● Oct. 29, 2024

Chris Jardine sleeps in a bedroom which looks more like a building site after the tradesman he hired took his money and never finished the work.

From BBC ● Feb. 7, 2024

Wandering about among his worthless stock, with his long nose and thick spectacles and his bowed shoulders in the velvet jacket, he had always vaguely the air of being a collector rather than a tradesman.

From "1984" by George Orwell

Anna Moynihan set up TaskHer, a platform connecting female tradies with customers who need jobs done, after feeling frustrated when tradesmen she had booked for renovation work would address her husband rather than her.

From BBC ● Sep. 29, 2026

On a recent evening in a local pub, two builders asked other patrons for recommendations for tradesmen and were told they had to wait several weeks.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 14, 2026

“This was an industry of gatekeepers,” he said, adding that master tradesmen ultimately viewed their apprentices — working in the same 10- to 15-mile radius as them — as competition.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 16, 2025

"The vigil last night, local tradesmen rallied round to help clean up the local mosque that was damaged. Those are the positive to take out of this," he said.

From BBC ● Aug. 7, 2024

And the tradesmen went round the back way by the old stables and the garage.

From "Rebecca" by Daphne du Maurier

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