magnate
Americannoun
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a person of great influence, importance, or standing in a particular enterprise, field of business, etc..
a railroad magnate.
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a person of eminence or distinction in any field.
literary magnates.
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a member of the former upper house in either the Polish or Hungarian parliament.
noun
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a person of power and rank in any sphere, esp in industry
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history a great nobleman
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(formerly) a member of the upper chamber in certain European parliaments, as in Hungary
Other Word Forms
- magnateship noun
Etymology
Origin of magnate
1400–50; back formation from Middle English magnates (plural) < Late Latin magnātēs leading people, equivalent to Latin magn ( us ) magn- + -ātēs, plural of -ās noun suffix
Explanation
If you’re a hugely successful businessperson, particularly if you’ve cornered the market in a specific area, you’re a magnate. Magnates are often larger-than-life characters, like that oil tycoon who wears a cowboy hat with his tuxedo. Historically, a magnate was a man of noble birth (from the Latin magnus, meaning "a nobleman," or at least someone distinguished by his achievements. In the twentieth century, the stock of a magnate has rather fallen. If you’re vulgar and loud-spoken as well as rich, you’re probably a magnate. Thanks to the legendary movie producer Samuel Goldwyn, all film studio heads are now "studio magnates."
Vocabulary lists containing magnate
That's Great!: Magn
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A Room of One's Own
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Hidden Figures
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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.
Montazeri can’t travel to Dubai or Abu Dhabi, where he once regularly attended art fairs and mingled with his major collectors, including pharmaceutical magnate Farhad Farjam and financier and philanthropist Mohammed Afkhami.
From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 27, 2026
Not only does the Korean magnate understandably detest that style, she has no love for Lindsay either.
From Salon • Apr. 23, 2026
But when New York grocery and oil magnate John Catsimatidis tapped into his fortune for a passion project, he chose WABC, an AM radio station well past its glory years.
From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 22, 2026
"I build under budget, ahead of schedule," the former real estate magnate boasted.
From Barron's • Apr. 21, 2026
Financial backers of both institutions—the Chemical Foundation in Columbia’s case and William Crocker, a banking and railroad magnate, in Berkeley’s case—seemed eager to pony up funds to cover Sloan’s further research.
From "Big Science" by Michael Hiltzik
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.
