billionaire

[bil-yuh-nair, bil-yuh-nair]

noun

a person who has assets worth a billion or more dollars, francs, pounds, or the like.

Origin of billionaire

1855–60, Americanism; billion + -aire, on the model of millionaire

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for billionaire

Contemporary Examples of billionaire

To most of the world, billionaire Jeffrey Epstein is a convicted sex offender and a financial grifter.
Sleazy Billionaire’s Double Life Featured Beach Parties With Stephen Hawking
M.L. Nestel
January 8, 2015
The billionaire philanthropist tastes the product of a machine that processes human sewage into drinking water and electricity.
Bill Gates Drinks Sewer Water
Jack Holmes, The Daily Beast Video
January 7, 2015
The bromance between the Russian president and the billionaire ex-prime minister of Italy goes way back.
Was Putin’s Midnight Visit to Berlusconi About Bunga Bunga?
Barbie Latza Nadeau
October 19, 2014
Billionaire Michael Bloomberg already had the gun lobby in his sights.
The NRA Pissed Off the Wrong Nerd Genius
Cliff Schecter
August 26, 2014
Its board of directors is chaired by billionaire industrialist and conservative political donor Charles G. Koch.
The Sleazy War on the Humane Society
Center for Public Integrity
August 18, 2014

Historical Examples of billionaire

That means that in five years I will be a billionaire, and only forty-two.
The Root of Evil
Thomas Dixon
Who but a billionaire could say what was fair exchange for a billion?
The Golden Bowl
Henry James
"Don't try to," the Billionaire replied, with seeming benevolence.
The Air Trust
George Allan England
For a moment the Billionaire regarded him with a look of intense irritation.
The Air Trust
George Allan England
The Billionaire, however, wasted but scant time in consideration.
The Air Trust
George Allan England

British Dictionary definitions for billionaire

billionaire

noun

a person whose assets are worth over a billion of the monetary units of his country

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

Word Origin and History for billionaire

1844, American English, from billion on model of millionaire. The first in the U.S. likely was John D. Rockefeller (1839-1937), some time after World War I.