noun
tycoon
teye-KOON
noun
1
A very wealthy and powerful businessperson, especially the head of a large company or industry.
"The shipping tycoon owned a fleet of over two hundred vessels."
"A property tycoon bought up half the buildings on the street."
2
A type of simulation or management video game where the player builds and runs a business or piece of infrastructure.
"He spent the whole weekend playing a theme-park tycoon game."
How to Use Tycoon
Learner’s notesIn plain EnglishA hugely successful and influential business figure — or, more casually, a genre of business-building video games.
Common pairings
a business tycoon
a media tycoon
an oil tycoon
Word Forms
tycoons plural
Study it as flashcards or scroll it in Flow — saved to your collection.
Test yourself on “tycoon”
A quick quiz — meaning, synonyms & usage
→
Fill the Gap
Can you complete this real example?
The shipping _____ owned a fleet of over two hundred vessels.
Etymology
Borrowed from a Japanese title meaning "great lord," once used for the shogun; English speakers adopted it during the 1800s for powerful business figures.