Word
customer
Phoneticscus·tomer
US/ˈkəstəmɝ/
UK/kˈʌstəmɐ/
Definitions
01a buyer
n. a person who buys things from a shop or business.
n. a person or organisation that purchases goods or services from a business.
“The shop was busy with customers buying gifts for the holiday.”
“The manager implemented a new loyalty programme to encourage repeat customers and improve overall satisfaction scores.”
Pitfall
The shop has many clients every morning.
The shop has many customers every morning.
Use 'customer' for shops and restaurants; 'client' is usually for professional services like lawyers or accountants.
02a type of person
n. a person you have to deal with, often described by their personality.
n. a person of a specified kind, especially one that someone has to deal with or interact with.
“Be careful with that dog; he can be a tough customer if he doesn't know you.”
“The negotiator was known for being a cool customer, never losing his temper even during the most heated debates.”
Informal
Usage
Usually preceded by an adjective like 'tough', 'cool', or 'slippery' to describe a person's temperament.
Synonyms
Confusables
A customer pays for goods or one-off services, while a client pays for ongoing professional expertise and advice.
RememberCustomer = Commodities. Client = Counsel.
Etymology
From Middle English custumer, from Old French coustumier, costumier (compare modern French coutumier), from Medieval Latin custumarius (“a toll-gatherer, tax-collector”, noun), from custumarius (“pertaining to custom or customs”, adjective), from custuma (“custom, tax”). More at custom. By surface analysis, custom + -er.
Etymology adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Collocations
Idioms
ugly customer — Someone or something unwelcome or unpleasant.
Domain
Scan code
englishreference.com/q/customer