Tycoon Meaning
/taɪˈkuːn/Definition, CEFR level B2, pronunciation, examples, and quiz.
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Definition
nounA wealthy and powerful business person.
nounA business simulator game, typically involving building and managing some form of infrastructure.
Sentence Examples
He was a stock-market tycoon until the bears got him.
The tycoon endowed each son with a million dollars.
CEFR Practice Quiz
The oil ____ donated millions to build a new hospital in his hometown.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
He is a famous business ____ who has built a massive international empire in the technology and media sectors today.
Word Origin & History
Borrowed from Japanese 大君(たいくん) (taikun, “great lord, prince”), a title for the shōgun. Related to taipan, from Cantonese 大班 (daai⁶ baan¹). The game sense was derived from the use of tycoon in titles of games in which one plays a tycoon (e.g., RollerCoaster Tycoon).
Literary Quotations & Historical Citations
"Dagobert had only one customer, an American who wore square, rimless glasses and a beige suit and looked like a Wall Street tycoon."
— 1956, Delano Ames, chapter 24, in Crime out of Mind:
"Sometimes even Greek shipping tycoons run out of money."
— 1971, James A. Michener, The Drifters: A Novel, page 279:
"Zoo Tycoon is only one of several "tycoon" types of games, such as Railroad Tycoon, Rollercoaster Tycoon, Pizza Tycoon, and, without the "tycoon" title, but with all the fun and challenge, The Movies."
— 2007 May 17, Rusel Demaria, Reset: Changing the Way We Look at Video Games, National Geographic Books:
"Whilst making spaces more green is generally a goal for town planning these days, this game in the style of classic tycoons like SimCity and Rollercoaster Tycoon, does the complete opposite."
— 2025, James Binns, “This funny game mashes up Sim City and Cities Skylines to create a parking hell”, in GearNuke:
"Tycoons / A game in which users build up some sort of business by earning money over time and then using that money on upgrades."
— 2013, Brandon LaRouche, Intermediate ROBLOX Lua Programming, Double Trouble Studio, →ISBN, page 172:
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CEFR Practice Quiz
The oil ____ donated millions to build a new hospital in his hometown.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
He is a famous business ____ who has built a massive international empire in the technology and media sectors today.