noun ·2 syllables ·Uncommon ·Advanced level

Definitions

Noun

1. 1
   A member of a ship's crew who is responsible for steering.
2. 2
   a man who steers a ship wordnet
3. 3
   A leader. figuratively

Synonyms

All synonyms

automatic pilotboatheaderboatsteererciceroneconnercourier

Example

More examples

"You only get to know a good helmsman in a storm."

Etymology

From helm + -s- + man.

Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.