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entrepreneur

American  
[ahn-truh-pruh-nur, -noor, ahn-truh-pruh-nœr] / ˌɑn trə prəˈnɜr, -ˈnʊər, ɑ̃ trə prəˈnœr /

noun

  • entrepreneurs
    plural
  1. An image of the word entrepreneur as defined by a person who organizes and manages any enterprise, especially a business, usually with considerable initiative and risk.

    a person who organizes and manages any enterprise, especially a business, usually with considerable initiative and risk.

  2. an employer of productive labor; contractor.


verb (used with object)

  1. to deal with or initiate as an entrepreneur.

verb (used without object)

  1. to act as an entrepreneur.

entrepreneur British  
/ ˌɒntrəprəˈnɜː, ɑ̃trəprənœr /

noun

  1. the owner or manager of a business enterprise who, by risk and initiative, attempts to make profits

  2. a middleman or commercial intermediary

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

entrepreneur Cultural  
  1. One who starts a business or other venture that promises economic gain but that also entails risks.


Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

Inflected Forms

Nouns


Etymology

Origin of entrepreneur

First recorded in 1875–80; from French: literally, “one who undertakes (some task),” equivalent to entrepren(dre) “to undertake” (from Latin inter- inter- + prendere “to take,” variant of prehendere ) + -eur -eur; see enterprise


Explanation

An entrepreneur is someone who starts a new business. Little stores and huge companies both have entrepreneurs behind them. Do you have good ideas for products? Are you OK with the idea of risk? Then maybe you should be an entrepreneur. This is someone who founds a business, whether a tiny one or a huge one. Besides starting the business, the entrepreneur takes on the most of the risk by investing their own money and/or bringing in other investors. For an entrepreneur, their business is their baby.

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Vocabulary lists containing entrepreneur

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.

See Examples For:

Phil Trubey, a California entrepreneur who attended Thursday’s event, was disappointed that his Roadster isn’t entering production sooner.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 16, 2026

"Practical, or 'small', AI can help a farmer improve yields, a teacher tailor instruction, a health worker make better-informed decisions, or an entrepreneur reach new customers," he said.

From Barron's ● Oct. 16, 2026

The house, with origins in the 15th Century, belonged to textile, fashion and retail entrepreneur Laura Ashley and her husband Bernard and owned by the family until his death in 2009.

From BBC ● Oct. 15, 2026

The project took Silicon Valley by storm in the early 2010s, as young entrepreneur Holmes drew investors -- including Henry Kissinger, Carlos Slim and Rupert Murdoch -- to her project.

From Barron's ● Oct. 9, 2026

As an initial step, they were pleased to find an ally in a black small-time newspaper editor and entrepreneur, Richard E. Parker.

From "A Few Red Drops: The Chicago Race Riot of 1919" by Claire Hartfield

Barnum-like qualities of certain larger-than-life entrepreneurs, you know, and you see that a lot in Silicon Valley .

From Salon ● Oct. 16, 2026

America’s ability to raise and allocate this private capital—the institutional investors and entrepreneurs, the legal system and market structure—is the envy of the world.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 15, 2026

That’s a familiar argument among technology entrepreneurs in almost every category — that what they’re doing is so danged important for the world that government should back off.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 13, 2026

It has given tax breaks to entrepreneurs to set up 24 neighborhood markets, where around 20 basic food and hygiene products are available for between 10 and 15 percent less than in private-run stores.

From Barron's ● Oct. 9, 2026

But cheaper merchandise isn’t always better, leaving local entrepreneurs to prove that quality is queen.

From "Hope Springs" by Jaime Berry

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