smoker

smoker — noun

1. someone with the habit of using tobacco by burning and breathing in its smoke, a

1.nounA2
Definition

someone with the habit of using tobacco by burning and breathing in its smoke, as from cigarettes, cigars, or a pipe

Example

Chidi has been a heavy smoker for twenty years and now has a bad cough.

collocation: heavy smoker

The clinic near Gita's house offers free check-ups for smokers who want to quit.

relative clause: smokers who want to quit

Common collocations
  • heavy smoker
  • light smoker
  • chain smoker
  • former smoker
  • social smoker
  • passive smoker
  • pack-a-day smoker
Synonyms
  • tobacco user

    broader and more formal or clinical; includes people who chew or sniff tobacco, not just smokers

  • cigarette smoker

    narrower — describes someone who smokes cigarettes specifically, not pipes or cigars

Antonyms
  • non-smoker

    a person who does not smoke; commonly used in surveys, health studies, and public signage

Usage Note

Often used with a preceding modifier such as 'heavy', 'light', 'chain', 'former', or 'social' to indicate the degree or pattern of tobacco use. In medical and policy contexts, 'smoker' is regularly contrasted with 'non-smoker'.

Common Mistakes

My uncle is a heavy smoke.
My uncle is a heavy smoker.
'Smoke' is the verb or the substance (e.g. cigarette smoke); 'smoker' is the person who does the smoking.
She is a smoker person.
She is a smoker.
'Smoker' already means 'a person who smokes', so adding 'person' is redundant.

2. a carriage on a train where smoking cigarettes or other tobacco products is perm

2.nounB2
Definition

a carriage on a train where smoking cigarettes or other tobacco products is permitted

Example

On the old train, the last carriage was marked as the smoker for passengers.

passive: was marked as the smoker

Dewi sat in the smoker by mistake and quickly moved because of the thick smoke.

accidental action: by mistake

Common collocations
  • designated smoker
  • smoker carriage
  • last carriage
Synonyms
Antonyms

Usage Note

This sense is becoming less common because many countries now ban smoking on public transport entirely. The American equivalent is 'smoking car'. In modern railway terminology, carriages are 'non-smoking' by default.

Word family

Synonym discussion

Sense: noun/1

All four terms describe people involved with tobacco, but they differ in scope and connotation. 'Tobacco user' is the broadest and most clinical — it includes people who chew or sniff tobacco, not just smokers, and is preferred in public-health reports. 'Cigarette smoker' narrows the meaning to cigarettes only, excluding pipe and cigar smokers. 'Chain smoker' carries a strong negative connotation of compulsive, non-stop smoking — one cigarette after another — and implies addiction. 'Heavy smoker' is a quantitative term used in medical research to describe someone who smokes many cigarettes per day (often a pack or more), but without the compulsive imagery of 'chain smoker'. For everyday conversation, 'smoker' is the neutral default; use the more specific terms only when the pattern matters, e.g. 'My grandfather was a heavy smoker' vs. 'He lit another cigarette right away — he was a real chain smoker.'

tobacco usercigarette smokerchain smokerheavy smoker

Common collocations

Nouns

  • smoker's cough
  • smoker's lounge
  • smoker's corner

Phrases

  • pack-a-day smoker
  • smoker's license

Prepositions

  • for smokers
  • among smokers
  • of smokers

Etymology

Proto-GermanicOld EnglishEnglish

Formed from 'smoke' (the noun or verb) plus the agent suffix '-er', which turns a verb into a noun meaning 'a person who does that action'. 'Smoke' comes from Old English 'smoca' (noun) and 'smocian' (verb), both of Proto-Germanic origin. The meaning 'a person who habitually smokes tobacco' appeared in the early 1600s, around the same time tobacco smoking became widespread in Europe. The railway-carriage sense emerged in the mid-1800s when trains first began offering compartments where passengers could smoke.