capitalist

1 of 2

noun

cap·​i·​tal·​ist ˈka-pə-tə-list 

ˈkap-tə-

1

: a person who has capital especially invested in business

industrial capitalists

broadly : a person of wealth : plutocrat

Charitable organizations often seek help from capitalists.

2

: a person who favors capitalism

capitalist

2 of 2

adjective

variants or capitalistic

ˌka-pə-tə-ˈli-stik 

ˌkap-tə-

1

: owning capital

the capitalist class

2

a

: practicing or advocating capitalism

capitalist nations

b

: marked by capitalism

capitalist period of history

capitalistically

ˌka-pə-tə-ˈli-sti-k(ə-)lē 

ˌkap-tə-

adverb

Synonyms of capitalist

Noun

• have
• plutocrat
• money
• magnate
• moneybags
• billionaire

Examples of capitalist in a Sentence

Noun

capitalists who lost everything in the '29 Crash

Recent Examples on the Web

Noun

In a weekend post responding to Amodei's essay, Sacks, a venture capitalist with investments in AI startups, said the two leading model developers should police themselves rather than asking the government to do it. — Lora Kolodny,jonathan Vanian, CNBC, 15 Sep. 2026

But, overall, this didn't seem to be primarily a story of rich capitalists investing money and then sitting on their keisters while their capital generated returns for them. — Greg Rosalsky, NPR, 14 Sep. 2026

Adjective

The war on terror also weakened the liberal state, another creature of the Cold War, whose animating purpose had been to pose capitalist liberty against Communist dictatorship. — Faisal Devji, Time, 11 Sep. 2026

The script itself is filled with the language of its time and place, including Berliner gutter slang and high-society clichés, casino speech and capitalist jargon, spoken Yiddish and literary German. — Literary Hub, 9 Sep. 2026

Word History

Etymology

Noun

probably borrowed from French capitaliste "person possessing capital," from capital capital entry 2 + -iste -ist entry 1

Adjective

capital entry 2 + -ist entry 2, after capitalist entry 1

First Known Use

Noun

1774, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Adjective

1845, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Phrases Containing capitalist

• pre-capitalist

Kids Definition

capitalist

noun

cap·​i·​tal·​ist

ˈkap-ət-ᵊl-əst, 

ˈkap-tᵊl-

1

: a person who has capital and especially business capital

2

: a person who supports capitalism