customer
Americannoun
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a person who purchases goods or services from another; buyer; patron.
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Informal. a person one has to deal with.
a tough customer; a cool customer.
noun
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a person who buys
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informal a person with whom one has dealings
a cool customer
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of customer
First recorded in 1400–50; late Middle English; custom + -er 1; compare Middle English customer “collector of customs,” from Anglo-French; Old French costumier, cognate with Medieval Latin custumārius; see customary
Explanation
A customer is anyone paying for a good or service. Without customers, businesses would go out of business. When you're paying for just about anything, you're a customer. People shopping at the grocery store, sitting in coffee shops, going to movies, and buying DVDs online are all customers. The point of advertising is to drum up new customers for a business. There's a cliché that "The customer is always right," which is obviously not true, but shows how businesses try to make customers happy. They'd better. Without customers, any business is in deep trouble.
Vocabulary lists containing customer
Business, List 1
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The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane
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Unit 17, Lesson 2
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Customer commitments have started, and the financial targets are now on the record.
From MarketWatch • Jun. 25, 2026
Director of Power NI Customer Solutions, William Steele said this tariff increase was "not a decision we've taken lightly".
From BBC • May 29, 2026
For example, Customer A is shopping online for grocery pick-up and sees $3.99 for a bag of lemons, whereas Customer B sees $2.99 for the same bag.
From Salon • May 18, 2026
Customer demand for AI that they and others are forecasting is driving up chip prices and leading them to agree to longer-term contracts with suppliers.
From The Wall Street Journal • May 14, 2026
When the problem was first noticed, the legal counsel had advised that there should be no product recall, but rather, Customer Service should go with a "replace as requested" plan.
From "Things Not Seen" by Andrew Clements
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
