consumer
nounUK /kənˈsjuːmə/ · CA, US /kənˈsumɚ/
Etymology From consume + -er.
1
One who, or that which, consumes.
- But through the oligopoly, charcoal fuel proliferated throughout London's trades and industries. By the 1200s, brewers and bakers, tilemakers, glassblowers, pottery producers, and a range of other craftsmen all became hour-to-hour consumers of charcoal.2006, Edwin Black, chapter 2, in Internal Combustion:
2
Economics, Sciences Someone who trades money for goods or services as an individual.
- This new system favours the consumer over the producer.
- Almost two-thirds of American consumers have at least one unspent gift card tucked away in a drawer, pocket, wallet or purse.2023 February 23, Parija Kavilanz, “Americans have a collective $21 billion in unspent gift cards”, in CNN:
1 more example
- A second estimate of gross domestic product, released Thursday, showed that consumer spending was weaker in the first three months of the year than initially reported.2024 May 30, Bryan Mena and Nathaniel Meyersohn, “The American shopping spree is losing steam”, in CNN:
3
Broadly The consumer base of a product, service or business.
- Our consumers are upwardly mobile and middle-class.
- Derived terms
44 terms
anti-consumer, anticonsumer, business-to-business-to-consumer, business-to-consumer, consoomer, conspicuous consumer, consumer brand, consumer credit, consumerdom, consumer good, consumer-grade, consumerish, consumerism, consumerist, consumerization, consumerize, consumerlike, consumer price index, consumer research, consumer resistance, consumer rights, consumership, consumer society, consumer surplus, consumer unit, consumer whore, cyberconsumer, direct-to-consumer, end-consumer, end consumer, family and consumer science, macroconsumer, mesoconsumer, metaconsumer, microconsumer, multiconsumer, mystery consumer, nonconsumer, postconsumer, preconsumer, prosumer, secondary consumer, smoke consumer, transumer- Related terms
- consumption