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vendor

[ven-der, ven-dawr] / ˈvɛn dər, vɛnˈdɔr /
NOUN
person who sells wares
Synonyms
STRONGEST
dealer hawker merchant peddler
STRONG
businessperson huckster pitcher traveler
WEAK
outcrier traveling salesperson
Antonyms
STRONGEST
customer

Frequently Asked Questions

What is another word for vendor?
Vendor is a word for a person, company, or other entity that sells things. When it’s an individual person selling things from a stall in a street market, the term street vendor is often used. More old-fashioned words for a person who sells things on the street include peddler and hawker. Perhaps the closest synonym for vender is seller. It gets at exactly what a vendor does—sells things—and it can be used for both individuals and companies. Similar words include merchant and retailer. More specific words include dealer and supplier, which both are most often used in the context of businesses that sell to other businesses. (They’re sometimes also used in illegal contexts.)
What is a third party vendor?
The term third party vendor refers to a business that is authorized to provide goods or services to customers on the behalf of the main business. The term third party is used because the additional business is tangential to the transactional relationship between the primary business and the customer. Another word for third party vender is third party seller. For example, the retailer Amazon features many third party sellers, some of which you can also buy from directly without using Amazon’s fulfillment services.
How do you use vendor in a sentence?
The word vendor is a common word in the context of commerce involving all kinds of businesses. Here are some examples of vendors in a sentence:
  • The fair had hundreds of food vendors offering all kinds of delicious fried foods —it was heaven.
  • Vendors across the region have been seeing their sales increase by large margins.
  • We reached out to our vendors to inquire about the shipping delays.

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.

Vendor booths replaced vinyl racks, some selling miniature lowrider replicas and Chicano-inspired artwork.

From Los Angeles Times • Feb. 25, 2026

External link Nov. 14: Vendor financing, a key factor in the formation and collapse of the dot-com bubble, has declined significantly.

From Barron's • Nov. 15, 2025

Vendor booths will line up along South King Street, offering attendees of the family-friendly event the chance to take home prizes and buy art pieces.

From Seattle Times • Feb. 24, 2024

The Street Vendor Project, a nonprofit organizing group that has researched the industry, estimated that there were 20,000 street vendors in New York City, and the group said that was probably an undercount.

From New York Times • Aug. 5, 2023

Mr. Clyde stuck the fork in Vendor Reilly’s muffler and ordered him out of the garage, threatening him with dismissal if he didn’t show up early to begin working the French Quarter.

From "A Confederacy of Dunces" by John Kennedy Toole

Vocabulary lists containing vendor

100 SAT Words Beginning with "V"

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The Lemonade War

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The Color of My Words

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