millionaire

American  

[mil-yuh-nair] / ˌmɪl yəˈnɛər /

Or millionnaire

noun

1. a person whose wealth amounts to a million or more in some unit of currency, as dollars.

2. any very rich person.

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millionaire British  

/ ˌmɪljəˈnɛə /

noun

1. a person whose assets are worth at least a million of the standard monetary units of his country

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Other Word Forms

• millionairedom
  noun
• millionairess
  noun
• nonmillionaire
  noun

Etymology

Origin of millionaire

1820–30; < French millionnaire, equivalent to million million + -aire -ary

Compare meaning

How does millionaire compare to similar and commonly confused words? Explore the most common comparisons:

• multimillionaire vs. millionaire

Explanation

A millionaire is someone who has at least a million dollars. If you're a millionaire, you are incredibly wealthy — but not as rich as a billionaire. In U.S., if you have a million dollars — or things that are worth that much, like a million-dollar house — you're a millionaire. In the U.K., a millionaire has a million pounds. This word describes a specific amount of wealth, but it's also a metaphor for "rich," so you might say, "My neighbors are millionaires — they travel to foreign countries all the time!" The first American millionaire was John Jacob Astor, who earned his riches from 18th-century fur trading.

Example Sentences

A retired IT analyst has become the seventh person to win the £1m jackpot on Who Wants To Be A Millionaire?

From BBC • Apr. 26, 2026

“I don’t think there’s anything unique about being a second home to wealthy people,” said Bridges, a senior who plays soccer under the Millionaire name and said her team faces snide remarks.

From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 22, 2026

Appeared in the February 9, 2026, print edition as 'Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?'.

From The Wall Street Journal • Feb. 8, 2026

Richard Davies, 49, and Faye Stevenson-Davies, 43, first scooped a seven-figure jackpot playing the EuroMillions Millionaire Maker in June 2018.

From BBC • Dec. 16, 2025

This paragraph from Accidental Millionaire, one of the many Jobs biographies, gives us a sense of how extraordinary his childhood experiences were.

From "Outliers" by Malcolm Gladwell