millionaire

IPA/ˌmɪljəˈneə(r)/
KK[mˌɪljənˈɛr]IPA/ˌmɪljəˈner/

millionaire — noun

  • millionairesingular
  • millionairesplural

1. someone whose money and valuable possessions together equal at least one million

1.nounB1
Definition

someone whose money and valuable possessions together equal at least one million units of a currency, such as dollars, pounds, or euros.

Example

After selling his technology company, Ravi became a millionaire at age twenty-eight.

became a millionaire: achieving wealth status

The lottery winner was an instant millionaire, yet many such winners lose their fortune within a few years.

instant millionaire: sudden wealth collocation

Common collocations
  • self-made millionaire
  • become a millionaire
  • instant millionaire
  • paper millionaire
  • dollar millionaire
Synonyms
  • rich person

    more general; refers to anyone with significant wealth, not a specific threshold

  • wealthy individual

    more formal register, same broad meaning without the exact million-unit amount

  • tycoon

    emphasises power in business or industry, not just personal net worth

Antonyms
  • pauper

    extreme opposite; someone with very little money (formal, dated)

  • poor person

    general opposite; someone with very limited financial resources

Usage Note

Often modified by adjectives such as self-made, instant, or overnight to describe how the wealth was gained. The term can refer to any major currency; the local currency is usually implied by context.

Common Mistakes

She is a millionaire woman.
She is a millionaire.
millionaire is a noun, not an adjective, so it does not need to modify woman or person.

Word family

Synonym discussion

Sense: noun/1

Millionaire is a specific financial label: someone whose assets total at least one million units of currency. Tycoon and magnate both imply immense success in a particular industry — a tycoon is a powerful business leader, while a magnate controls a large company or sector (e.g., a media magnate). These words carry a connotation of influence beyond personal wealth. Wealthy individual is a broader, more neutral term for anyone with ample money, without specifying a threshold. Fat cat is informal and often negative, suggesting a person who earns an unfairly large salary or bonus, especially in corporate contexts. For a learner, millionaire is the clearest label for the one-million benchmark; use tycoon or magnate only when business dominance is part of the meaning. For example: 'He is a millionaire who runs a small chain of bakeries' — here tycoon would sound overstated.

millionaire ↗tycoon ↗magnate ↗wealthy individualfat cat ↗

Common collocations

Nouns

Adverbs

Phrases

  • on paper (paper millionaire)

Etymology

FrenchEnglish

Millionaire was borrowed from French millionnaire in the early 1800s. The French word combined million (meaning 'a thousand thousand') with the suffix -aire (indicating a person who has or does something). The term entered English during the Industrial Revolution, when large personal fortunes became more common through trade and manufacturing.