capitalist

[kap-i-tl-ist]

noun

1. a person who has capital, especially extensive capital, invested in business enterprises.

2. an advocate of capitalism.

3. a very wealthy person.

capitalist

/ ˈkæpɪtəlɪst /

noun

1. a person who owns capital, esp capital invested in a business

2. politics a supporter of capitalism

3. informal,  a rich person

adjective

1. of or relating to capital, capitalists, or capitalism

Other Word Forms

• anticapitalist noun
• noncapitalist noun
• precapitalist noun
• procapitalist noun
• capitalistic adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of capitalist¹

First recorded in 1785–95; capital ¹ + -ist

Example Sentences

Bailout money is likely to be invested in “market-moving purchases that push up the value of assets and local currency,” and hedge funds and vulture capitalists “will see a windfall.”

From Salon

Tito denounced Mandaric as a "capitalist traitor" when the entrepreneur took his family to Switzerland.

From BBC

Some Indian venture capitalists and research institutes see a silver lining in this murky future.

From Los Angeles Times

However, Bray has written, most if not all antifa members “wholeheartedly support militant self-defense against the police and the targeted destruction of police and capitalist property.”

From Los Angeles Times

It’s difficult to imagine a worse addition to this oil-and-water mix of high-minded nonconformist cranks and hard-toiling middle-class settlers than a capitalist sybarite.

From Los Angeles Times

Related Words

• banker 
• entrepreneur 
• financier