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
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
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.
Polls suggest a June 21 run-off between Cepeda and millionaire lawyer Abelardo De la Espriella, as no candidate is projected to have enough support to win the first ballot outright.
From Barron's • May 31, 2026
Properly understood, every mother of two in this city is already a millionaire.
From The Wall Street Journal • May 11, 2026
Self-made millionaire Fishwick made his fortune from selling vans, and founded Burnley Savings and Loan in 2011 to give local people affordable credit.
From BBC • May 4, 2026
Even a popular New York City venue allegedly uses it to blackball people its millionaire owner considers adversaries.
From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 28, 2026
A few thousand dollars in the right place then and you’d be a millionaire today, but who could have guessed?
From "Cat's Eye" by Margaret Atwood
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.
