- a person who acquires goods and services for his or her own personal needs
Compare producer - a person or thing that consumes
- (usually plural) an organism, esp an animal, within a community that feeds upon plants or other animals
See also decomposer
WordReference Random House Learner's Dictionary of American English © 2026
con•sum•er /kənˈsumɚ/USA pronunciation
n. [countable]
WordReference Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English © 2026- a person or thing that consumes.
- Business(in economics) a person or organization that buys something or uses a service:Have consumers lost confidence in the economy?
con•sum•er
(kən so̅o̅′mər),USA pronunciation n.
con•sum′er•ship′, n.
- a person or thing that consumes.
- Business[Econ.]a person or organization that uses a commodity or service.
- Ecologyan organism, usually an animal, that feeds on plants or other animals.
- 1375–1425 for earlier sense "squanderer,'' 1525–35 for current senses; Middle English; see consume, -er1
Collins Concise English Dictionary © HarperCollins Publishers::
consumer /kənˈsjuːmə/ n
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'consumer' also found in these entries (note: many are not synonyms or translations):
austerity
- capital goods
- comper
- consumer durable
- consumer goods
- consumer terrorism
- disposable goods
- disposable income
- durable goods
- education
- Hong Kong
- light
- marketing
- middleman
- motivational research
- Nader
- Pacific rim
- post-consumer
- producer
- prosumer
- purchase tax
- RFID
- savings ratio
- testimonial
- vending machine
- acceleration coefficient
- action reporter
- aftermarket
- C.C.I.A.
- consume
- consumer advocate
- consumer credit
- consumerism
- consumerist
- consumerize
- consumer price index
- Consumer Product Safety Commission
- consumer strike
- consumption goods
- consumption tax
- cooperative store
- cost-of-living index
- CPI
- CPSC
- demand-side
- direct marketing
- drop shipment
- end-consumer
- focus group
- food chain
