capitalist

[kap-i-tl-ist]

noun

1. a person who has capital, especially extensive capital, invested in business enterprises.

2. an advocate of capitalism.

3. a very wealthy person.

capitalist

/ ˈkæpɪtəlɪst /

noun

1. a person who owns capital, esp capital invested in a business

2. politics a supporter of capitalism

3. informal,  a rich person

adjective

1. of or relating to capital, capitalists, or capitalism

Other Word Forms

• anticapitalist noun
• noncapitalist noun
• precapitalist noun
• procapitalist noun
• capitalistic adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of capitalist¹

First recorded in 1785–95; capital ¹ + -ist

Example Sentences

Even after Holmes’s conviction, venture capitalist Tim Draper, an early investor in Theranos, said he was alarmed about the case having a chilling effect on business.

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Relentless market uncertainty and narrowing opportunities to take startups public are leading venture capitalists to take a step back from biotechnology.

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There’s only one thing worse than being exploited by rapacious capitalists and that’s not being exploited by them.

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He very much believes he’s doing right by Tulsa’s everyday people, a working-class community at the mercy of men like Donald Washberg and the capitalist power brokers silently enabling his political career.

Read more on Salon

Bailout money is likely to be invested in “market-moving purchases that push up the value of assets and local currency,” and hedge funds and vulture capitalists “will see a windfall.”

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Related Words

• banker 
• entrepreneur 
• financier