customer
Americannoun
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a person who purchases goods or services from another; buyer; patron.
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Informal. a person one has to deal with.
a tough customer; a cool customer.
noun
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a person who buys
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informal a person with whom one has dealings
a cool customer
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
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.
Vocabulary lists containing customer
Business, List 1
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The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane
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Unit 17, Lesson 2
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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.
See Examples For:
While that stems from “robust customer demand,” it was enabled by strategic decisions the company made “well before this demand materialized,” he added.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 23, 2026
The goal is to improve value and customer experience to bring back more cautious shoppers.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 23, 2026
British no-frills airline EasyJet said Thursday that its profit tumbled in the third quarter as the Middle East war sent jet fuel prices soaring and dampened customer demand.
From Barron's ● Jul. 23, 2026
T-Mobile has attracted “higher quality accounts” to its customer mix following last year’s rollout of Experience plans, which offer features like premium unlimited data, streaming perks and a five-year pricing guarantee.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 23, 2026
To Danny and Vinny, Greg Lippmann was a walking embodiment of the bond market, which is to say he was put on earth to screw the customer.
From "The Big Short" by Michael Lewis
Programs that encourage employees or customers to adopt greener habits do not appear to weaken support for broader climate action.
From Science Daily ● Jul. 25, 2026
Such an agreement would likely spur an industrywide price war and fierce competition for customers — the main reason why the biggest three operators have vowed not to ink this sort of partnership.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 25, 2026
The post has amassed more than 1,200 comments across Instagram and Facebook from longtime customers upset by the news.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 25, 2026
AI companies are offering customers like him deals “like crazy” to keep them, he said.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 25, 2026
“We could remind everyone to support small businesses. As long as customers keep shopping in town, then Hope Springs has a chance to compete against SmartMart.”
From "Hope Springs" by Jaime Berry
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.
