speculator
Americannoun
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a person who is engaged in commercial or financial speculation.
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a person who makes advance purchases of tickets, as to games or theatrical performances, that are likely to be in demand, for resale later at a higher price.
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a person who is devoted to mental speculation.
noun
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a person who speculates
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rugby an undirected kick of the ball
Etymology
Origin of speculator
1545–55; < Latin speculātor explorer, equivalent to speculā ( rī ) to watch over, explore, reconnoiter ( see speculate) + -tor -tor
Explanation
A speculator is someone who takes a chance on losing a lot of money when there's a prospect of making even more money. A speculator might, for example, invest in a risky stock in the hopes she can sell it eventually at a profit. In a way, everyone who invests in the financial market is a bit of a speculator — the possibility of losing money is always there, as is a chance (and hope) of making money. Gamblers are speculators too, hoping to win big but vulnerable to losing everything on a poker game. Less commonly, a speculator is simply someone who speculates, or guesses without enough information. The financial meaning dates from the 18th century.
Vocabulary lists containing speculator
The Great Depression and The New Deal
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"Grand Canyon Speech"
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The Sound and the Fury
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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.
"He's a speculator, he buys and sells," they told me.
From BBC ● Mar. 11, 2026
Duer was also an inveterate speculator and get-rich-quick schemer: “king of the alley,” as Thomas Jefferson derisively referred External link to Wall Street.
From Barron's ● Mar. 1, 2026
He stayed six months, made and lost a fortune, and gave us the indelible image of the Wall Street speculator.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 28, 2025
Next came Highway 80 and speculator Bert Vaughn, who built a four-story hotel, bathhouse and a desert view tower to lure San Diego-Arizona drivers off the road.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 24, 2024
My blood runs cold when Peter talks about becoming a criminal or a speculator; of course, he’s joking, but I still have the feeling he’s afraid of his own weakness.
From "The Diary of a Young Girl" by Anne Frank
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.
