Dictionary

skillman en · NOUN

Etymology

From skill + man.

Meanings

1. A gray-collar worker; someone who does skilled technical work.
   • Susman (1970) found clear goal differences between skillmen and their helpers in an oil refinery. 1981, Paul C. Nystrom, William H. Starbuck, Handbook of Organizational Design, page 98:
   • In one half, merchants, professionals, speculators and country gentry, wigged, stocked, breeched and buckled, hold a million post-mortems on the day's dealings. In the other, the trousered classes - artisans, skillmen, journeymen - argue the toss over ale and pie. The boundary is fluid, but the lines are clearly drawn. 2005, Trevor Griffiths, These are the Times: A Life of Thomas Paine, page 13:
   • The day that she went, I said, "You know, you have been one of the best skillmen, ever." 1996, D. W. Livingstone, John Marshall Mangan, Recast Dreams: Class and Gender Consciousness in Steeltown:

Forms