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salesman

salesman

259 1.0
A person who sells things in shops or to customers
  • noun
  • /ˈseɪlzˌmæn/
translation icon : vendedor
  • As a dedicated salesman, he travels across the country to meet clients and showcase new products.
  • a traveling salesman
  • a car salesman
  • an insurance salesman

Rhett is a car salesman and Link is the car.

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Examples

  • You girls are looking at the newest salesman of the 12th-largest life insurance company in America.

  • At 50, she works as an interior designer, while her husband is a salesman for a pharmaceutical company.

    Academic text (2001)
  • Hey, we got a new salesman, Buddy Hall over here.

  • To my best salesman and his beautiful wife.

  • Is this guy a salesman?

  • So my dad is a salesman for Sony Broadcast.

  • And the salesman also convinced me to buy these socks.

  • If you're an insurance salesman, you have to get a little creative in how you close a deal.

  • The proposed agent turned out to be a jewelry salesman with glowing letters of recommendation from satisfied customers.

    Academic text (2007)
  • Jahan lives a fast-paced life most of the year as a salesman of business supplies.

    Academic text (1990)

Synonyms

seller
vssalesman
257 1.0

A person or company that offers goods for money

is the specific worker role rather than any person or business selling
vendor
vssalesman
257 2.0

A person or company that sells things, for example at a market

is the general seller role that includes shop or visit sales too
clerk
vssalesman
  • US
110 1.1

A person who helps customers and handles sales at a shop

is the selling role rather than mainly helping or handling transactions
salesperson
vssalesman
28 2.2

A person who sells things for a store or company

is the male specific term rather than a gender neutral one
sales rep
vssalesman
  • Informal
19 3.5

A person who sells a company's products or services to customers

is the general selling role often in stores or visiting customers
traveling salesman
vssalesman
  • US
9 4.4

A person who travels to different places to meet customers and sell goods or services

is the general selling job that also includes store work rather than only travel
peddler
vssalesman
8 5.7

A person who travels to sell small goods in streets or markets

is the broader sales role not only selling in streets or markets
7 2.7

A person who contacts customers to sell a company's products and services

is the general person selling not focused on representing a company
pitchman
vssalesman
  • US
5 6.8

A man who sells products by talking and showing them to people, often at fairs or on TV

is the standard selling job working in stores or visiting customers
hawker
vssalesman
  • UK
4 7.4

A person who sells goods in the street or at markets

is the more general sales job that also includes in store work
salesclerk
vssalesman
  • US
3 2.4

A person who works in a store and helps customers buy things

is the broader job that can include visiting customers as well as store work
book agent
vssalesman
2 3.8

A person who sells books by visiting homes or towns

is the general seller role not limited to books or that market
shop clerk
vssalesman
1 1.9

A person who helps customers buy things in a store

is not limited to serving in a shop and may include visiting customers
bagman
vssalesman
  • Archaic
1 8.6

A traveling seller who visits shops with samples to sell

is the more general seller role not tied to carrying samples
shopman
vssalesman
  • Archaic
4.2

A man who works in a shop and helps customers

is broader as it also covers selling outside shops and visiting customers
tradesperson
vssalesman
  • UK
3.5

A person who buys and sells goods in a shop or market

is focused only on selling rather than also buying or trading

Compounds

A person who travels to different places to meet customers and sell goods or services

snake oil salesman
  • Offensive
7 8.0

A person who tricks people by offering fake medicines or useless products

jumped-up salesman
  • Offensive
8.4

A salesperson who acts as if they are more important after a promotion

Surface Forms

salesman singular
salesmen plural

Morphology

salesman = sales + man (transparent) = sales + man

A straightforward compound of 'sales' (the activity of selling) + 'man' meaning a man who sells; easily understood by learners.

Etymology

Salesman is simply sale + man, so it literally means a 'man who sells'. That's why a salesman is a person whose job is to sell products or services.