capitalist
Americannoun
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capitalists
plural
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a person who has capital, especially extensive capital, invested in business enterprises.
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an advocate of capitalism.
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a very wealthy person.
noun
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a person who owns capital, esp capital invested in a business
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politics a supporter of capitalism
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informal a rich person
adjective
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of capitalist
Explanation
Someone who hopes to profit by investing money or financing business ventures is a capitalist. A nation's economy is described as capitalist if it's based on private ownership and profit. The word capitalist appeared in 1791, taken from the French word capitaliste. A capitalist is someone who believes in the economic philosophy of Capitalism, a system of privately-owned, for-profit businesses. A capitalist might believe in free enterprise and the individual’s ability to gain wealth through intelligence and hard work. Capitalist can also be used to describe a self-interested, every-man-for-himself approach to the world.
Vocabulary lists containing capitalist
East Asia - Middle School
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East Asia - High School
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Russia - Middle School and High School
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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.
See Examples For:
William H. Draper III, a pioneering Silicon Valley venture capitalist, died on Sept. 8 at the age of 98.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 15, 2026
The company has assumed the role of a venture capitalist in the AI value chain, strategically investing in customers and business partners.
From MarketWatch ● Sep. 29, 2026
The Wall Street Journal has reported that the investors’ group includes San Francisco-based brothers Patrick and John Collison, who founded the tech company Stripe; venture capitalist Robin Chan; and Twitch co-founder Justin Kan.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 24, 2026
Sir Anthony's report, co-authored with venture capitalist Tim Bunting, says schools have not been prepared for AI's arrival.
From BBC ● Sep. 22, 2026
Every capitalist went about with a gang of lackeys who—” The old man brightened again.
From "1984" by George Orwell
To capitalists, the idea of individual children owning stock is positive.
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 6, 2026
Google co-founder Sergey Brin, venture capitalists and other tech executives fund that group.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 1, 2026
Building on those advances, Seales and a group of venture capitalists, with Italy's permission, launched the Vesuvius Challenge in 2023.
From Science Daily ● Sep. 26, 2026
The startup began testing Instinct in private beta in February and quickly generated substantial interest among venture capitalists, who are among its earliest users.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 26, 2026
I have friends who are called capitalists, Socialists, and Communists!
From "The Autobiography of Malcolm X" by Alex Malcolm X;Hailey
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Get a wordDefinitions 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.
