customer

American  

[kuhs-tuh-mer] / ˈkʌs tə mər /

noun

• customers
  plural

1. a person who purchases goods or services from another; buyer; patron.

2. Informal. a person one has to deal with.

   a tough customer; a cool customer.

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customer British  

/ ˈkʌstəmə /

noun

1. a person who buys

2. informal a person with whom one has dealings

   a cool customer

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customer Idioms  

1. see ugly customer.

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Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• customers
  plural

Etymology

Origin of customer

First recorded in 1400–50; late Middle English; custom + -er ¹; compare Middle English customer “collector of customs,” from Anglo-French; Old French costumier, cognate with Medieval Latin custumārius; see customary

Explanation

A customer is anyone paying for a good or service. Without customers, businesses would go out of business. When you're paying for just about anything, you're a customer. People shopping at the grocery store, sitting in coffee shops, going to movies, and buying DVDs online are all customers. The point of advertising is to drum up new customers for a business. There's a cliché that "The customer is always right," which is obviously not true, but shows how businesses try to make customers happy. They'd better. Without customers, any business is in deep trouble.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

customer customers

Banks themselves see their net interest margins improve, since the interest they earn on newly extended credit accumulates faster than the interest they are paying on customer deposits like savings accounts.

From Barron's ● Sep. 9, 2026

Her customer base now spans 34 countries, and in a good month she sells as many as 50 bags, ranging from around $100 to $700.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 8, 2026

Returning customer Mia Takara says her love of cats and nostalgic goods from the 1990s and 2000s keep her coming back to the shop whenever the Hawaii resident visits her partner every couple of months.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 7, 2026

Somewhere inside me, a tiny rewards-program customer had been activated.

From Salon ● Sep. 6, 2026

Zara’s watching Nate, who is bent over a 15 hp outboard motor that a customer dropped off for repair.

From "Red Flags and Butterflies" by Sheryl Azzam

He believes that less parking will mean fewer customers.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 9, 2026

British Airways said it was forced to cancel or divert more than 100 flights, impacting tens of thousands of its customers.

From Barron's ● Sep. 8, 2026

Inventories rise, customers diversify, producers change investment plans, and infrastructure that had been too expensive becomes economical.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 8, 2026

The move highlights how some companies are reconsidering where they make goods as trade barriers increase the cost of serving customers from overseas.

From BBC ● Sep. 8, 2026

Zooming past would-be customers, a mother dragging a young kid by the wrist shot toward my stand.

From "Sir Fig Newton and the Science of Persistence" by Sonja Thomas

Related Words

• client
• consumer
• patron
• purchaser