workmanlike
/ˈwɜː(ɹ)kmənlaɪk/
Word Rarity
Very rare
Frequency: Zipf frequency 2.19 in modern English
24
Scrabble Score
11
Letters
3
Syllables
10
Unique Chars
Meaning
adj
Resembling or characteristic of a workman.
adj
Done competently but without flair.
Example Sentences
- "She was dressed in khaki, khaki slacks and khaki shirt, practical and workmanlike."
- "In appearance the new 4-4-0s were magnificent engines for the period in which they were built; the boiler, bulging over the typical Drummond splasher, gave the engine a sturdy, workmanlike look, and the blue livery enhanced a picture of sleek, powerful, efficiency."
- "Even his most matter-of-fact, workmanlike paintings are charged with an entirely personal morbidity."
- "2002, Tom Friedman, Germano Celant, Fondazione Prada (Milan, Italy), Mario Perniola, Tom Friedman, Progetto Prada Arte The tandem arrangement does not misuse Close, for he has gotten decades of acclaim for a tedious, workmanlike art."
- "Clear, workmanlike prose will do fine, and polishing up the prose is for the second draft."
- "Isaacson comes from the “his eyes lit up” school of cliched writing, the rest of his prose workmanlike bordering on AI."
Etymology
Etymology tree Proto-Germanic *werkamann- Proto-West Germanic *werkamann Old English weorcmann Middle English werkman English workman Proto-Indo-European *leyg-der. Proto-Germanic *līkąder. Proto-Germanic *-līkaz Proto-West Germanic *-līk Old English -līċ Middle English -like English -like English workmanlike From workman + -like.
Inflected Forms
more workmanlike (comparative)
most workmanlike (superlative)