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

“Literature nowadays is a trade,” Milvain insists: Putting aside men of genius, who may succeed by mere cosmic force, your successful man of letters is your skillful tradesman.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 14, 2025

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

A separate tradesman estimated the value of the work completed by Mr McMaster amounted to only £16,000.

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

Now, Llŷr and others from the village claim tradesmen are looking for work in different areas.

From BBC ● Mar. 23, 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

A crowd had gathered a few lengths on the other side of the brazier, mostly soldiers and tradesmen, with a few women, one carrying a babe in her arms.

From "Chains" by Laurie Halse Anderson

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