magnate
Americannoun
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a person of great influence, importance, or standing in a particular enterprise, field of business, etc..
a railroad magnate.
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a person of eminence or distinction in any field.
literary magnates.
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a member of the former upper house in either the Polish or Hungarian parliament.
noun
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a person of power and rank in any sphere, esp in industry
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history a great nobleman
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(formerly) a member of the upper chamber in certain European parliaments, as in Hungary
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of magnate
1400–50; back formation from Middle English magnates (plural) < Late Latin magnātēs leading people, equivalent to Latin magn ( us ) magn- + -ātēs, plural of -ās noun suffix
Explanation
If you’re a hugely successful businessperson, particularly if you’ve cornered the market in a specific area, you’re a magnate. Magnates are often larger-than-life characters, like that oil tycoon who wears a cowboy hat with his tuxedo. Historically, a magnate was a man of noble birth (from the Latin magnus, meaning "a nobleman," or at least someone distinguished by his achievements. In the twentieth century, the stock of a magnate has rather fallen. If you’re vulgar and loud-spoken as well as rich, you’re probably a magnate. Thanks to the legendary movie producer Samuel Goldwyn, all film studio heads are now "studio magnates."
Vocabulary lists containing magnate
That's Great!: Magn
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Hidden Figures
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A Room of One's Own
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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:
As for Keogh the lint-roller magnate, he says his operation wasn’t so passive at first.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 25, 2026
Perez, 79, who has been in office since 2009, beat challenger and renewable energy magnate Enrique Riquelme in the election by picking up 65% of the votes.
From BBC ● Jun. 11, 2026
Then Miller enlisted investment help from his friend, railroad magnate Henry Huntington, transformed the boarding house into a hotel and renamed it.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 11, 2026
In the 1870s, Leland Stanford, the railroad magnate and benefactor of the university that bears his name, funded an effort to find out.
From Slate ● May 25, 2026
In the mid-1920s, Howard began to live like the magnate he had become.
From "Seabiscuit: An American Legend" by Laura Hillenbrand
Many excluded Indians altogether or admitted only a small number of princes and magnates.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 10, 2026
Americans are well accustomed to ridiculously wealthy magnates assuming the same pose at their desks, or as Richard Branson did, on national TV.
From Salon ● Aug. 31, 2025
It is, by design, capable of confronting not merely individual wrongdoers but vast criminal networks and incalculably rich corporations and commercial magnates.
From Slate ● Nov. 20, 2024
Also left unsaid: how many people will assist the two magnates and how that staff will be paid.
From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 13, 2024
The suburb they had their sights on was the affluent lakefront district of the auto magnates: Grosse Pointe.
From "Middlesex: A Novel" by Jeffrey Eugenides
Definitions 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.
