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Synonyms

stakeholder

American  
[steyk-hohl-der] / ˈsteɪkˌhoʊl dər /

noun

  1. the holder of the stakes stake of a wager.

  2. a person or group that has an investment, share, or interest in something, as a business or industry.

  3. Law. a person holding money or property to which two or more persons make rival claims.

stakeholder British  
/ ˈsteɪkˌhəʊldə /

noun

  1. a person or group owning a significant percentage of a company's shares

  2. a person or group not owning shares in an enterprise but affected by or having an interest in its operations, such as the employees, customers, local community, etc

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

adjective

  1. of or relating to policies intended to allow people to participate in and benefit from decisions made by enterprises in which they have a stake

    a stakeholder economy
"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Etymology

Origin of stakeholder

First recorded in 1700–10; stake 2 + holder

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

They are not easy things to get right, as there are many stakeholders with a viewpoint.

From BBC

He added that federal policy changes require all stakeholders, including lenders, to re-evaluate their practices and programs.

From MarketWatch

Next year, bigger changes may come - but that requires agreement on one level or another among the stakeholders, many of whom have competing agendas.

From BBC

Your father made sure you earned your allowance, and you got your first sense of what it was like to contribute to the household and — critically — be a stakeholder.

From MarketWatch

Moving a corporate stock plan can take months if not years and can require approval from corporate human resources departments and other stakeholders.

From Barron's

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.