millionaire

American  

[mil-yuh-nair] / ˌmɪl jəˈnɛər /

Or millionnaire

noun

• millionaires
  plural

1. a person whose wealth amounts to a million or more in some unit of currency, as dollars.

2. any very rich person.

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millionaire British  

/ ˌmɪljəˈnɛə /

noun

1. a person whose assets are worth at least a million of the standard monetary units of his country

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• millionairedom
  noun
• millionairess
  noun
• nonmillionaire
  noun

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• millionaires
  plural

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Etymology

Origin of millionaire

1820–30; < French millionnaire, equivalent to million million + -aire -ary

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Compare meaning

How does millionaire compare to similar and commonly confused words? Explore the most common comparisons:

• multimillionaire vs. millionaire

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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

See Examples For:

millionaire millionaires

Plus, the dangers of purging middle managers and the volatile finances of America’s millionaire pilots.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 24, 2026

De la Espriella, a flamboyant 48-year-old millionaire, was elected in June on an anti-establishment platform.

From Barron's ● Sep. 8, 2026

The group - named after Liverpool's founding year - is led by British-Indian millionaire businessman Amit Bhatia and also includes Bezos and billionaire Facebook co-founder Eduardo Saverin.

From BBC ● Aug. 18, 2026

Around 44,000 people fled the swanky Cap Ferret peninsula south of Bordeaux, known for its millionaire residences.

From Barron's ● Jul. 25, 2026

Wow, he hadn’t always been a millionaire like I thought!

From "The Freedom Writers Diary" by The Freedom Writers

Investment banking revenues are up, and wealth-management divisions are winning new AI millionaires as clients.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 15, 2026

“We need our billionaires, our millionaires and all our companies and people who are paying taxes, especially when the federal government is not giving us our fair share,” Ma said.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 1, 2026

If you add up the wealth of our everywhere millionaires, it comes to more than 13 times that amount — about 40% of household wealth.

From MarketWatch ● Sep. 21, 2026

A lot of millionaires are going to come from finding a solid business whose owner wants to retire.

From MarketWatch ● Sep. 21, 2026

“What do you think all the other millionaires are doing today, Plug?”

From "Hattie Big Sky" by Kirby Larson

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