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Glite Dictionary
city man

city man

7.7
A man who works in banks or financial firms in the City of London
  • noun
  • Jargon
translation icon : hombre de la ciudad
  • The city man commutes daily to work at a prestigious investment bank in London.

Examples

  • Many city men enjoy networking at exclusive events hosted by top financial firms.

  • As a city man, he is often busy with meetings in the financial district.

  • The role he played amused him: a city man pretending to be a country yokel to fool a couple of other city men.

    Fiction book (2002)

  • The role he played amused him: a city man pretending to be a country yokel to fool a couple of other city men.

    Fiction book (2002)

Synonyms

moneyman
vscity man
2 6.8

A person who manages large amounts of money for businesses

is employed in London banks, not just skilled in handling money
city financier
vscity man
  • UK
6.8

A person who works in banks or finance firms in the City of London

refers specifically to a male person rather than any gender
city banker
vscity man
  • UK
4.1

A banker who works in a big city's financial area, especially London

is a finance professional working in banks rather than an ordinary bank employee

Surface Forms

city man singular
city men plural

Morphology

city + man

The constituents 'city' + 'man' transparently yield a general idea of 'a man from the city' that a B1 learner would likely infer, so there is a clear compositional basis. However, the specialized idiomatic meaning — a male financier who works in the City of London — is culturally specific and not derivable from the words alone, so understanding the precise occupational sense requires extra cultural/lexical knowledge.

Etymology

City man comes from the simple image of a man who works in the City, the old name for London's main area for banks and money. Because these men worked in banks and often wore suits, city man came to mean 'a male banker or financier'.