millionaire
Americannoun
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a person whose wealth amounts to a million or more in some unit of currency, as dollars.
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any very rich person.
noun
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of millionaire
1820–30; < French millionnaire, equivalent to million million + -aire -ary
Compare meaning
How does millionaire compare to similar and commonly confused words? Explore the most common comparisons:
Explanation
A millionaire is someone who has at least a million dollars. If you're a millionaire, you are incredibly wealthy — but not as rich as a billionaire. In U.S., if you have a million dollars — or things that are worth that much, like a million-dollar house — you're a millionaire. In the U.K., a millionaire has a million pounds. This word describes a specific amount of wealth, but it's also a metaphor for "rich," so you might say, "My neighbors are millionaires — they travel to foreign countries all the time!" The first American millionaire was John Jacob Astor, who earned his riches from 18th-century fur trading.
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.
The conflict-ridden country will vote Sunday for a new president, with polls predicting a June 21 runoff between leftist Senator Ivan Cepeda and right-wing millionaire lawyer Abelardo de la Espriella.
From Barron's • May 29, 2026
Related: ‘I have more money than I know what to do with’: I’m a single millionaire with no heirs and don’t like spending.
From MarketWatch • May 6, 2026
Griffith was a puffed-up man of no amiable disposition; his fellow L.A. millionaire Alphonzo Bell, the developer of Bel-Air, mocked him as “the Prince of Wales.”
From Los Angeles Times • May 6, 2026
Do you have to be a millionaire to become an F1 driver?
From BBC • Apr. 17, 2026
When Elizebeth explained that she needed a job, the librarian told her about a millionaire who needed help with a mystery about Shakespeare.
From "The Woman All Spies Fear" by Amy Butler Greenfield
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.
