wildcatter

[wahyld-kat-er]

noun

1. an oil prospector.

2. a person who promotes risky or unsound business ventures.

3. a person who participates in a wildcat strike.

Word History and Origins

Origin of wildcatter¹

An Americanism dating back to 1880–85; wildcat + -er ¹

Example Sentences

The shift to AI has been especially prevalent in Texas, where today’s wildcatters are more interested in locking in electricity than discovering oil.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

Jones, a veteran wildcatter, has a long history of making bold bets.

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For a start, a steep drop in prices could gut U.S. shale producers and anger a president who has implored wildcatters to “drill, baby, drill.”

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Lewis, who Forbes estimates has a net worth of $1.1 billion, struck it rich in the 1980s as a wildcatter drilling for natural gas near his home in Laredo, Texas.

Read more on Seattle Times

Endeavor, founded by the billionaire wildcatter Autry Stephens, had become the subject of takeover speculation in oil circles over the past several months.

Read more on New York Times