customer

noun

cus·​tom·​er ˈkə-stə-mər 

1

: one that purchases a commodity or service

The customer used a credit card for the purchase.

2

: an individual usually having some specified distinctive trait

a real tough customer

… let me give you the advice of an old and world-weary customer.

—Flannery O'Connor

Synonyms

• client
• patron
• guest

Examples of customer in a Sentence

She is one of our best customers.

She's a pretty cool customer.

Recent Examples on the Web

Kalshi, unlike traditional sportsbooks, offers bets in all 50 states and has no legal mandate to sign geolocation deals for advanced customer tracking. —Dan Bernstein, Sportico.com, 16 Oct. 2025

Separately, Comcast — NBCU’s parent company — offers the StreamSaver bundle, priced at $15 per month for Xfinity customers, which provides Peacock, Apple TV and Netflix. —Todd Spangler, Variety, 16 Oct. 2025

Last year, less than a third of customer bills went to gas, while about two-thirds went to the other costs. —NPR, 16 Oct. 2025

The comments caused an uproar in San Francisco, where Benioff, 61, held his firm’s Dreamforce event this week, which attracts tens of thousands of Salesforce employees and customers. —Bloomberg, Mercury News, 16 Oct. 2025

Word History

Etymology

Middle English custumer, from custume — see custom entry 1

First Known Use

15th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Phrases Containing customer

• cool customer
• customer base
• paying customer
• regular customer

Kids Definition

customer

noun

cus·​tom·​er ˈkəs-tə-mər 

1

: one that buys a product or service

2

: individual entry 2 sense 2, fellow

he's a real tough customer

Legal Definition

customer

noun

cus·​to·​mer

1

: a person or business that purchases a commodity or service

2

a

: a person or entity having an account with a bank or on whose behalf the bank has agreed to collect items

b

: a person or entity for whom an issuer issues a letter of credit