industrialist

industrialist — noun

1. someone who controls or has a leading role in a major manufacturing business, of

1.nounB2
Definition

someone who controls or has a leading role in a major manufacturing business, often owning factories that produce steel, cars, machinery, or similar goods

Example

Bao, a retired steel industrialist, still visits the factory floor every Tuesday morning.

appositive: [name], a(n) [occupation],...

Young industrialists in Brazil are investing heavily in solar panel factories.

collocation: industrialist + invest in [industry]

Common collocations
  • steel industrialist
  • textile industrialist
  • automobile industrialist
  • wealthy industrialist
  • powerful industrialist
  • retired industrialist
  • prominent industrialist
Synonyms
  • manufacturer

    focuses on the production side and is more neutral; an industrialist may own multiple factories while a manufacturer can run just one

  • tycoon

    emphasizes great wealth and power; slightly informal and often used in journalism

  • magnate

    similar to tycoon but more formal; typically appears with a sector label (steel magnate, oil magnate)

  • capitalist

    broader — anyone who owns capital, not limited to industry or manufacturing

Grammar Patterns

industrialist + of + [industry]

industrialist + in + [sector]

Usage Note

Typically used for wealthy, influential figures in manufacturing sectors. Often paired with a specific industry name (steel industrialist, textile industrialist, automobile industrialist). Less commonly applied to service or technology sectors.

Word family

Synonym discussion

Sense: noun/1

Industrialist, manufacturer, tycoon, magnate, and capitalist all refer to people with money or power in business, but their focus differs. An industrialist specifically owns or leads large manufacturing operations — factories, mills, plants. A manufacturer runs a production operation, but the word is more neutral and can describe a small business owner as well. Tycoon and magnate both highlight enormous personal wealth and influence; tycoon is more informal (often used in newspaper headlines), while magnate sounds more formal and pairs naturally with a sector name (shipping magnate, media magnate). Capitalist is the broadest — it describes anyone who invests capital to generate profit, whether in manufacturing, finance, or technology. In everyday use: "Andrew Carnegie was a steel industrialist who built factories across the US" versus "a tech capitalist who funds start-ups."

industrialist ↗manufacturer ↗tycoonmagnatecapitalist ↗

Common collocations

Prepositions

  • industrialist + of + [industry]
  • industrialist + in + [sector]

Etymology

LatinFrenchEnglish

Industrialist formed in English in the mid-1800s, during the Industrial Revolution — a time when large factories and manufacturing businesses were expanding rapidly. It combines the adjective industrial (from French industriel, in turn from Latin industria meaning 'diligence, activity') with the suffix -ist (from Greek -istēs via French/Latin, meaning 'a person who does or is concerned with something').