workingman

[ wur-king-man ]

noun

, plural work·ing·men.

1. a man of the working class; a man, whether skilled or unskilled, who earns his living at some manual or industrial work.

Gender Note

See -man.

Word History and Origins

Origin of workingman¹

First recorded in 1630–40; working + man

Example Sentences

Initially, the group had been to a pub before moving on to Tonyrefail workingman’s club, where witnesses described them as each having bought drinks.

From BBC

If the court kept overturning the New Deal, he reasoned, there would be “marching farmers and marching miners and marching workingmen throughout the land.”

From Los Angeles Times

While running for the Mississippi governorship in 1975, Charles Finch — better known to his constituents as Cliff — endeavored to establish himself as “the workingman’s candidate.”

From Salon

Have Democrats retreated so far from their workingman roots that their knee-jerk impulse is to dump on a blue-collar guy who highlights “folks in the street, ain’t got nothin’ to eat”?

From Seattle Times

The 50-year-old added his addiction grew as a result of performing in bands at various workingmen's clubs across south Wales.

From BBC

Related Words

• employee
• laborer
• staff