millionaire

American  

[mil-yuh-nair] / ˌmɪl jəˈnɛər /

Or millionnaire

noun

• millionaires
  plural

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

Derived Forms

• millionairedom
  noun
• millionairess
  noun
• nonmillionaire
  noun

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• millionaires
  plural

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Etymology

Origin of millionaire

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

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Compare meaning

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

• multimillionaire vs. millionaire

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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

See Examples For:

millionaire millionaires

De la Espriella, a flamboyant 48-year-old millionaire, was elected in June on an anti-establishment platform.

From Barron's ● Sep. 8, 2026

The group is led by British-Indian millionaire businessman Amit Bhatia and also includes Facebook co-founder Eduardo Saverin.

From BBC ● Aug. 10, 2026

The millionaire lawyer with a taste for spectacle is set to take office on Friday after a campaign focused on anger and fears about security.

From Barron's ● Aug. 7, 2026

John David Washington and Conrad Ricamora star in Andrew Stein’s thrilling and timely play about a Silicon Valley millionaire who sneakily tests his psychologically invasive new creation on his friends.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 4, 2026

None of it made her feel like a match for this enormous millionaire.

From "The Woman All Spies Fear" by Amy Butler Greenfield

Those deals are also minting a new generation of millionaires who are turning to banks for wealth-management services.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 14, 2026

Without them we’d have no arbitrage, entrepreneurs, tranches, financiers or even millionaires.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 7, 2026

“We need our billionaires, our millionaires and all our companies and people who are paying taxes, especially when the federal government is not giving us our fair share,” Ma said.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 1, 2026

MarketWatch: What kind of business do you think will create the most millionaires over the next decade?

From MarketWatch ● Sep. 21, 2026

Over the years I’d heard many rumors about my parents: that they were millionaires, that they were building a fortress on the mountain, that they had hidden away enough food to last decades.

From "Educated" by Tara Westover

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