buyer

buyer — noun

1. a person who pays money to get something, often used when the item is costly lik

1.nounB1
Definition

a person who pays money to get something, often used when the item is costly like a house, car, or piece of land.

Example

The buyer of the old farmhouse plans to fix the roof before winter.

buyer of + noun phrase

Marcus found a buyer for his motorcycle within two days of posting it online.

find a buyer for + item

Common collocations
  • potential buyer
  • first-time buyer
  • cash buyer
  • serious buyer
  • find a buyer
  • attract buyers
Synonyms
  • purchaser

    more formal, common in legal or business documents

  • customer

    broader — anyone who pays a shop, even for small daily items

  • shopper

    someone browsing or buying retail goods, not big purchases like houses

Antonyms
  • seller

    the other party in the transaction

  • vendor

    more formal seller, often a business

Grammar Patterns

buyer of [something]

the buyer + verb

Usage Note

Often paired with seller as the opposite party in a transaction. In real-estate and car-sales contexts, frequently modified by 'first-time', 'cash', or 'serious'.

Common Mistakes

I am a buyer this book.
I am the buyer of this book.
use 'of' to link buyer to the item, not bare juxtaposition.
She is a good buyer person.
She is a careful buyer.
'buyer' is already a noun for a person; do not add 'person'.

2. a worker whose main role is to choose and order the goods that a shop, hotel, or

2.nounB2
Definition

a worker whose main role is to choose and order the goods that a shop, hotel, or company will sell or use.

Example

As the head buyer for the department store, Priya travels to Milan twice a year to choose new fashion lines.

buyer for + organisation

The supermarket buyer rejected the apples because too many had soft spots.

Common collocations
  • head buyer
  • senior buyer
  • junior buyer
  • fashion buyer
  • buyer for [store]
Synonyms
Antonyms
  • supplier

    the company or person selling goods to the buyer

Grammar Patterns

buyer for [company/store]

[adjective] buyer

Usage Note

Distinguish from sense 1: this sense names a paid job, not just someone making one purchase. Subject is a person on a payroll, and the goods are bought for the employer, not for personal use.

Common Mistakes

I am the buyer of these shoes for my feet.
I am a buyer for the shoe store.
sense 2 means buying for an employer, not yourself.
She works as buyer.
She works as a buyer.
singular job titles need an article.
Idioms

buyer's market

idiom

a time when many goods are for sale and few people want them, so prices fall and people paying have plenty to choose from.

With so many empty flats in the city, Taipei has become a buyer's market this spring.

Falling demand for used cars turned the lot into a buyer's market overnight.

buyer beware

idiom

a warning that the person paying for something is responsible for checking it carefully before handing over money.

The auction sign read 'buyer beware', so Sofia inspected each painting under bright light.

When shopping at street markets in Bangkok, buyer beware — fake brands are everywhere.

a buyer’s market

idiom

A market condition where there are many products available, so prices are low and buyers have more power.

With so many houses for sale, it's definitely a buyer's market right now.

Is it a buyer's market for used cars this month?

Word family

  • buy
    verbA1
  • buy
    nounB2
  • buyout
    nounC1
  • buying
    nounB1
  • rebuy
    verbC2

Synonym discussion

Sense: noun/1

Buyer is the everyday word for the person who pays money to get something, and it sounds neutral in both casual talk and news reports about houses, cars, or land. Purchaser is heavier and more formal, the word you see on contracts, receipts, or in court — useful when the focus is the legal act of paying. Customer is wider: any person a shop or service has, even one who only browses today and pays tomorrow; a coffee-shop regular is a customer, not really a buyer. Shopper highlights the activity of going around a store comparing items, often for daily goods, with no big purchase implied. So a couple touring open houses on Sunday are buyers, the woman signing the deed on Monday is the purchaser, the man asking the agent questions is the customer, and the family wandering the mall food court are shoppers.

buyer ↗purchasercustomer ↗shopper ↗

Common collocations

Nouns

  • buyer protection
  • buyer behaviour
  • buyer's agent
  • buyer's guide

Phrases

  • attract buyers
  • find a buyer
  • warn buyers
  • buyer demand

Prepositions

  • buyer of
  • buyer for
  • buyer from

Etymology

Proto-GermanicOld EnglishMiddle EnglishModern English

Buyer comes from the Old English verb 'bycgan', meaning to pay money for something, plus the agent ending '-er' that turns a verb into the person doing it (compare 'teach' and 'teacher'). The verb itself goes back to a Proto-Germanic root linked to ideas of bending or handing something over. The noun 'buyer' has been in steady use in English since at least the 1300s, and its spelling settled near its modern form once 'buy' lost its older 'ck' and 'gh' shapes in late Middle English.