journeyman
noun
New Yorker
Did you know?
The journey in journeyman refers to a sense of the familiar word not often used anymore: "a day's labor." This sense of journey was first used in the 14th century. When journeyman appeared the following century, it originally referred to a person who, having learned a handicraft or trade through an apprenticeship, worked for daily wages. In the 16th century, journeyman picked up a figurative (and mainly deprecatory) sense; namely, "one who drudges for another." These days, however, journeyman has little to do with drudgery, and lots to do with knowing a trade inside out.
Examples of journeyman in a Sentence
Miami Herald, 9 Oct. 2025
Equally worth a watch is journeyman director Craig Gillespie's (I, Tonya, Cruella) 2011 remake, this time set in Sin City.
—Declan Gallagher, Entertainment Weekly, 7 Oct. 2025
After winning a World Series in his first full big-league season with the Chicago Cubs in 2016, Edwards has become a true journeyman.
—Jackson Roberts, MSNBC Newsweek, 7 Oct. 2025
Against one of baseball’s worst teams, things got so bad that in the bottom of the eighth inning, journeyman outfielder Travis Jankowski took the mound and flung balls at 40 mph.
—Will Sammon, New York Times, 1 Oct. 2025
See All Example Sentences for journeyman
Cite this Entry
“Journeyman.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/journeyman. Accessed 17 Oct. 2025.
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journeyman
noun
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