Meanings
brinkman1
plural brinkmen · alternative brinksman
- One who advocates for brinkmanship.
It compels the 'brinkmen' to realise that, if they seek to make war on the Soviet Union, they cannot count on cooperation from Britain or France, and probably not from Western Germany.
1958, The Labour Monthly, volume 40, page 182 more examples
The brinkmen Kennan abhorred were supreme realists, and if "the assumption that state behavior is a fit subject for moral judgment" is baseless, then anything, even the realism of atomic blackmail, would be permissible.
1970, John W. Coffey, Realist social thought in America: Reinhold Niebuhr and George F. KennanThe Syrian force was pulled back quickly and with reportedly heavy losses, but it stayed around long enough to remind the world that the Syrians are still the biggest blusterers and brinkmen in the Middle East.
1970, Time, volume 96
Brinkman2
Origin
brinkman · noun
Back-formation from brinkmanship, equivlent to brink + -man.
Full word history & related roots →Cite this entry
brinkman. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/brinkman
“brinkman.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/brinkman. Accessed November 2, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “brinkman,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/brinkman.
Source: brinkman on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.