payee
Americannoun
-
payees
plural
noun
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the person to whom a cheque, money order, etc, is made out
-
a person to whom money is paid or due
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of payee
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How does payee compare to similar and commonly confused words? Explore the most common comparisons:
Explanation
A payee is someone who receives money. If your boss hands you your first paycheck, then you are officially a payee. Congrats. Anyone who is paid is a payee, but the term is most commonly used to mean the person (or organization) whose name is written on a check after the words "pay to the order of." If you write a check to pay your cable bill, the cable company is the payee. And if they make a billing mistake and issue you a refund check, you're the payee. Payee uses the suffix -ee, which means "recipient."
Vocabulary lists containing payee
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.
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Sometimes foreign companies will withhold local taxes from dividends before sending them to a U.S. payee.
From Barron's ● Feb. 12, 2026
As a taxpayer, a Social Security payee, and someone who appreciates efficiency and good government, I am grateful to them.
From MarketWatch ● Nov. 28, 2025
If you’re the alternate payee in particular, you want your share of retirement assets without any major hassles.
From Salon ● Dec. 29, 2024
If a bank does not know the payee, it generally sends a paper check on your behalf, but the checks may have your account number and other information on them, leaving them susceptible to fraud.
From New York Times ● Jan. 7, 2024
The necessity of paying that which would be mutually satisfactory to payer and payee also makes clear why the existence of a legal-tender money does not necessarily cause its actual use in payments.
From Readings in Money and Banking Selected and Adapted by Chester Arthur Phillips
Jack also approved these – which meant he had been tricked into setting up three new payees.
From BBC ● Oct. 14, 2024
The restitution list of 6,648 potential payees varies from about $123 million at the top to $4.90 at the bottom.
From Seattle Times ● Apr. 7, 2022
Quickly moving information like direct debit instructions or frequent payees removes some of the burdens that prevent people from switching banks.
From Reuters ● Jul. 9, 2021
About 4.2 million adults receive monthly benefits that are managed by "representative payees."
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 18, 2015
Such payees are not, however, "fictitious or non-existent persons," so as to render the cheques payable to the bearer under sec.
From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 3, Part 1, Slice 3 "Banks" to "Bassoon" by Various
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.
