noun
gambler; yakuza; person without a legitimate job
Historical term for a person living outside mainstream society, often associated with gambling, itinerant lifestyles, or underworld connections. Modern usage is rare and carries a dated, period-piece feel.
彼の祖父は渡世人だったと聞いている。
I hear his grandfather was a gambler/yakuza type.
時代劇にはよく渡世人が登場する。
Wandering gamblers often appear in period dramas.
Specifically a professional gambler; 渡世人 includes a broader sense of a rootless outsider.
Compound of 渡世 (tosei, 'making a living, getting by in the world') and 人 (nin, 'person'). The exact historical derivation is uncertain, but the term came to refer to those who lived by their wits outside conventional society.