workman

[ wurk-muhn ]

noun

, plural work·men.

1. a man employed or skilled in some form of manual, mechanical, or industrial work.
2. a male worker. worker.

workman

/ ˈwɜːkmən /

noun

1. a man who is employed in manual labour or who works an industrial machine
2. a craftsman of skill as specified

   a bad workman

Gender Note

See -man.

Other Words From

• sub·workman noun plural subworkmen
• under·workman noun plural underworkmen

Word History and Origins

Origin of workman¹

before 900; Middle English werkman, Old English weorcman. See work, man

Example Sentences

A workman was left red-faced after his daughter's bright pink mobile phone became frozen within a newly formed ice rink.

From BBC

In fact, Kolkata’s Belgachia tram depot, once bustling with workmen repairing, maintaining, even building trams, nowadays often doubles as a film set.

From BBC

Ms Bone said people being diagnosed with mesothelioma were no longer "your workmen, your electricians, your miners - they’re teachers, doctors, nurses, office-workers".

From BBC

Scrawls of crude graffiti or quickly penciled notes left by workmen emulate the tendril-like lines dragged through Wool’s globular masses of spray paint.

From New York Times

They weren’t mutinies in the sense that soldiers attacked their officers, but were more like workmen’s strikes, in which entire units refused to return to the trenches or take part in new attacks.

From Literature

Related Words

• hand
• manual worker
• worker