Definition

1. Noun:
   • An inexperienced sailor; a sailor on their first voyage: A person who is new to the sea and lacks the skills or knowledge of a seasoned mariner.
   • A person who lives and works on land: Someone whose life and occupation are based on the land, as opposed to the sea; a landsman is contrasted with a seaman or sailor.

Usage Examples

• Noun:
  • The old salt laughed at the landsman who couldn't tie a proper knot. (The experienced sailor laughed at the inexperienced sailor who couldn't tie a proper knot.)
  • As a farmer, he was a true landsman with no desire to ever go to sea. (As a farmer, he was a true person who lived and worked on land with no desire to ever go to sea.)

Advanced Usage

• "To be a landsman at heart": To fundamentally prefer or be suited to life on land.
  • Despite his job on the ship, he remained a landsman at heart, always dreaming of his home in the mountains. (Despite his job on the ship, he fundamentally preferred life on land, always dreaming of his home in the mountains.)

Variants and Related Words

• Landlubber (n): A humorous or mildly derogatory term for a person unfamiliar with the sea or ships, often used synonymously with "landsman" in the context of inexperience.
  • The pirate called the captured merchant a frightened landlubber. (The pirate called the captured merchant a frightened person unfamiliar with the sea.)

Synonyms

• Lubber: An awkward, unskilled person, especially regarding seamanship.
• Greenhorn: A novice or inexperienced person.
• Landsman (in the "person on land" sense): Land dweller, terrestrial.

Antonyms

• Seaman: A sailor, especially one skilled in seamanship.
• Mariner: A sailor.
• Salt: An experienced sailor.
• Seafarer: A person who travels by sea.

Noun

1. an inexperienced sailor; a sailor on the first voyage
2. a person who lives and works on land