speculator

[ spek-yuh-ley-ter ]

noun

1. a person who is engaged in commercial or financial speculation.
2. a person who makes advance purchases of tickets, as to games or theatrical performances, that are likely to be in demand, for resale later at a higher price.
3. a person who is devoted to mental speculation.

speculator

/ ˈspɛkjʊˌleɪtə /

noun

1. a person who speculates
2. rugby an undirected kick of the ball

Word History and Origins

Origin of speculator¹

1545–55; < Latin speculātor explorer, equivalent to speculā ( rī ) to watch over, explore, reconnoiter ( speculate ) + -tor -tor

Example Sentences

Then speculators ran off to play with the next shiny object, and it went back to pennies.

From Vox

Blount was also a land speculator and borrowed money to purchase huge swaths of land in Tennessee and the surrounding areas.

From Washington Post

We are speculators here, peering into someone else’s marriage.

From Washington Post

Wall Street speculators are flocking to electric vehicle startups, assigning gigantic valuations to companies that have yet to produce any vehicles, much less any revenue or profits.

From Axios

These speculators can hold the token for up to a year in hopes of getting a better price.

From Fortune

Sorokko has no interest in trophies as such, and she is no speculator.

From The Daily Beast

For bringing the home within the reach of a black purchaser, however, the speculator extracted a considerable price.

From The Daily Beast

The new "new" thing was Chinese contemporary art and the speculator mentality that fueled the Western market.

From The Daily Beast

Would it have been restored, had the luckless speculator himself remained?

From Project Gutenberg

He had never thought of him as a speculator in building land.

From Project Gutenberg

It would be better we think to get him a bright vest and a derby hat and let him pretend to be a sidewalk speculator.

From Project Gutenberg

Couture is a very minor character, a financial speculator, who only hung on the fringe of the viveurs.

From Project Gutenberg

He was shrewd in money matters, and a successful speculator for many years.

From Project Gutenberg