bean counter
noun
usually disparaging
: a person involved in corporate or government financial decisions and especially one reluctant to spend money
Examples of bean counter in a Sentence
He blames corporate bean counters for causing thousands of workers to lose their jobs.
Recent Examples on the Web
According to the bean counters at Un/Necessary Sports Research, the younger Albert now has 1,508 national booth appearances under his belt, putting him within arm’s reach of Dick Stockton, who leads all comers with 1,544 games called.
—
Anthony Crupi, Sportico.com, 30 Oct. 2025
This will be a challenge for implant startups in crowded markets for migraine, bladder control, sleep apnea, where scientific or technical breakthroughs don’t matter to bureaucrats and bean counters.
—Naveen Rao, Forbes.com, 27 Aug. 2025
The young bean counter had a surprising solution: Get more aggressive.
—Christopher Helman, Forbes, 1 Aug. 2022
Hubble, Kepler — have been, instead of a bean counter?
—New York Times, 20 Oct. 2021
See All Example Sentences for bean counter
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Anthony Crupi, Sportico.com, 30 Oct. 2025
This will be a challenge for implant startups in crowded markets for migraine, bladder control, sleep apnea, where scientific or technical breakthroughs don’t matter to bureaucrats and bean counters.
—Naveen Rao, Forbes.com, 27 Aug. 2025
The young bean counter had a surprising solution: Get more aggressive.
—Christopher Helman, Forbes, 1 Aug. 2022
Hubble, Kepler — have been, instead of a bean counter?
—New York Times, 20 Oct. 2021
See All Example Sentences for bean counter
Cite this Entry
“Bean counter.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/bean%20counter. Accessed 12 Nov. 2025.
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