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Definitions

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition

  1. n. A Japanese corporate businessman.

Wiktionary

  1. n. A Japanese white-collar worker, especially one who works long hours and has an insignificant position within the corporate hierarchy.

Etymologies

  1. Anglicization of Japanese sarariman, salaried man : English salary + English man.

Examples

  • “The term salaryman refers exclusively to males, and for females the term career woman is used.”

    News: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

  • “Astonishingly, Mr. Kikuchi - whose thin and muscular build is at odds with his long career behind a desk as a corporate "salaryman"- held on for 14 hours, from 3 p.m. that day until dawn the morning after.”

    The Globe and Mail - Home RSS feed

  • “The trademark of the salaryman is his conservative dark suit, called a sebiro in Japanese, which probably came from the English word "civil" since they are civilian clothes, i.e. not a military uniform.”

    Anime Nano!

  • “They have to be a parody of the kind of salaryman concerns you see in things like Shima Kôsaku.”

    Néojaponisme » Blog Archive » Tsui no sumika

  • “After graduating college, he became a "salaryman" at Maruzen Oil Co., the predecessor to Cosmo Oil Co.”

    The Wall Street Journal: Fukuda's Low-Key Style

  • “Incidentally, I don't see my husband that often because he's always working (he's a "salaryman"), so in my case, marriage is more like chocolate cake every weekend for the rest of my life, which sounds pretty good to me.”

    Archive 2005-03-01

  • “It's been the sarariman, or "salaryman", for years and years.”

    Sourcing Innovation

  • “I lead two separate lives -- during the day, I'm a full-time 'salaryman' in a web design company, but at night I come to '2-chome' to work here as a barman," said Yuu, who declined to give his last name.”

    PageOneQ.com Latest

  • “Tokyo Sonata" - "The master of Japanese chills," Kiyoshi Kurosawa departs from his specialty for this domestic drama about the intricate lies a "salaryman" who loses his job creates to protect his family.”

    JSOnline.com

  • “The main character is a suit, an office worker, a "salaryman" if you will - and like all characters in the game he has no face and is a 3D polygonal pixellated-looking dude whose movements are based upon motion-capture sessions with a proper human dancer, dig?”

    Nintendo Life | Latest Updates

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Comments

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  • jodi Used in the book World War Z sections with "oral history" from Japan. Apr 18, 2011

‘salaryman’ has been looked up 432 times, added to 3 lists, commented on 1 time, and has a Scrabble score of 14.