Definition

1. Noun:

   • An individual who invests money in business ventures: A person who provides capital for commercial enterprises, typically expecting financial returns.
   • A supporter of the capitalist economic system: A person who believes in or advocates for capitalism as an economic and political system.

2. Adjective:

   • Relating to or practicing capitalism: Characteristic of or favoring an economic system based on private ownership and profit.
   • Pertaining to capitalists or their interests: Of or concerning those who possess capital or support capitalist principles.

Examples of Usage

• Noun:

  • The capitalist invested heavily in the new technology startup.
  • He was a staunch capitalist who believed in free-market principles.

• Adjective:

  • The country adopted a more capitalist approach to its economy.
  • Their capitalist motives sometimes conflicted with social welfare goals.

Advanced Usage

• "Venture capitalist": A specific type of investor who provides capital to startups and small businesses with high growth potential, typically in exchange for equity.

  • The software company was funded by a prominent Silicon Valley venture capitalist.

• "Crony capitalist": A term used critically to describe a system or individual where success in business depends on close relationships with government officials.

  • Critics accused the regime of fostering crony capitalist practices.

Variants and Related Words

• Capitalistic (adjective): Synonymous with the adjective form 'capitalist'. Often used interchangeably.

  • The reforms led to a more capitalistic society.

• Capitalism (noun): The economic and political system in which a country's trade and industry are controlled by private owners for profit.

  • Debates about the merits of capitalism are ongoing.

Synonyms

• Investor: One who allocates capital with the expectation of a future financial return.
• Industrialist: A person involved in the ownership and management of industry.
• Tycoon: A wealthy, powerful person in business or industry.

Antonyms

• Socialist: A person who advocates or practices socialism, where the means of production are owned and regulated by the community as a whole.
• Communist: A person who supports communism, a theory advocating class war and leading to a society in which all property is publicly owned.

Related Phrases and Idioms

• "Robber baron": A historical term for a powerful 19th-century American capitalist or industrialist who was considered to have used unethical business practices. (Note: This is a related historical idiom, not a phrasal verb with 'capitalist').
  • Historians debate whether these industrialists were visionary capitalists or robber barons.

Adjective

1. favoring or practicing capitalism
2. of or relating to capitalism or capitalists
   • a capitalist nation
   • capitalistic methods and incentives

Noun

1. a person who invests capital in a business (especially a large business)
2. a conservative advocate of capitalism