rainmaker

American  

[rayn-may-ker] / ˈreɪnˌmeɪ kər /

noun

1. (among American Indians) a medicine man who by various rituals and incantations seeks to cause rain.

2. a person who induces rainfall by using various scientific techniques, as the seeding of clouds with silver iodide crystals from an airplane.

3. Slang. an executive or lawyer with exceptional ability to attract clients, use political connections, increase profits, etc..

   The president has several rainmakers among his advisers.

---

rainmaker British  

/ ˈreɪnˌmeɪkə /

noun

1. (among Native Americans) a professional practitioner of ritual incantations or other actions intended to cause rain to fall

2. informal an influential employee who creates a great deal of business or revenue for his or her firm

---

Other Word Forms

• rainmaking
  noun

---

Etymology

Origin of rainmaker

An Americanism dating back to 1765–75; rain + maker

---

Explanation

If someone has a reputation as a rainmaker at work, it means that she has an almost uncanny ability to generate new business, attract clients, gather investments, or otherwise help the company succeed. This figurative meaning of rainmaker is the most common, especially in the business world. Rainmakers have a magic touch, or extremely good luck. It's as though everything they're involved with at work helps their employer make money. The original sense of rainmaker is literally "person who makes the rain fall," and you can also use it for a Native American leader of ritual rain dances or a scientist who seeds clouds to make rain fall.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

rainmaker

Loui charged him with replacing Navatek’s rainmaker and eventually named Kao CEO.

From Salon ● Sep. 23, 2026

Broadcom CEO Hock Tan has been a 20-year rainmaker for investors—with dividends, the shares are up 34,000%.

From Barron's ● Jun. 19, 2026

Wall Street hiring dilemma: AI can model — but can’t make — the next rainmaker.

From MarketWatch ● Jun. 18, 2026

But because single-stock funds charge much higher fees than an average fund, investment firms have rushed to launch those products in hopes that one will gain popularity and become a rainmaker.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 23, 2026

After that, Chen lived apart as a rainmaker, neither relatives nor the monks willing to bring lightning upon themselves.

From "The Woman Warrior" by Maxine Hong Kingston

Random Word

Spin the wheel and learn a new word!

---