noun
-
a man who is employed in manual labour or who works an industrial machine
-
a craftsman of skill as specified
a bad workman
Gender
See -man.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Etymology
Origin of workman
before 900; Middle English werkman, Old English weorcman. See work, man
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.
He occasionally overburdens the reader with minutiae of political and organizational rivalries and is more workman than stylist.
From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 23, 2026
Mr O'Donoghue said he saw the workman putting his wheelie bin in the back of his silver VW Golf on 3 September 2019 and said it appeared to be heavier than an empty bin.
From BBC • Jan. 27, 2025
Navy workman jackets appeared in the lockers of Chargers players.
From Los Angeles Times • Dec. 13, 2024
No confirmed deaths have been reported from any of the recent eruptions, but a workman was declared missing after falling into a fissure opened by the volcano.
From Seattle Times • Mar. 16, 2024
As I left the building, a workman in a blue cap and blue overalls stepped up to me.
From "The Hiding Place" by Corrie ten Boom
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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.