workmanlike

or work·man·ly

[wurk-muh n-lahyk]

adjective

like or befitting a workman.
skillful; well executed: a workmanlike piece of writing.

Origin of workmanlike

First recorded in 1400–50, workmanlike is from the late Middle English word werkmanlike. See workman, -like

Related formsun·work·man·like, adjectiveun·work·man·ly, adjective

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Examples from the Web for workmanlike

Contemporary Examples of workmanlike

Remember the first Walkman, introduced in 1979, with its tubby buttons and workmanlike profile.
Space Shuttle Enterprise: Flashback to an Icon of ‘70s Design
Blake Gopnik
July 18, 2012
Romney, by contrast, gave a smooth but workmanlike speech that barely contained a personal touch.
Romney Edges Santorum in Ohio Cliffhanger on Super Tuesday
Howard Kurtz
March 7, 2012

Historical Examples of workmanlike

I saw his tiny fat arm rise and fall in a workmanlike manner.
Falk
Joseph Conrad
He had a job to do, and he went at it in a workmanlike manner.
Oh, You Tex!
William Macleod Raine
But whoever had gone about the wrecking of the lab had gone about it in a workmanlike way.
Damned If You Don't
Gordon Randall Garrett
The mixed mortar is then applied with a trowel in a workmanlike manner.
Concrete Construction
Halbert P. Gillette
As for his actual compositions, he had only the ambition to make them as workmanlike as he could.
IT and Other Stories
Gouverneur Morris

British Dictionary definitions for workmanlike

workmanlike

less commonly workmanly (ˈwɜːkmənlɪ)

adjective

appropriate to or befitting a good workman

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for workmanlike

adj.

"efficient, no-nonsense," 1739, from workman (see work (v.)) + -like.