rentier
Lives off investments
A rentier is someone who lives off income from investments, property, or other assets rather than working.
The term often carries a faintly disapproving tone, suggesting passive wealth extraction: a rentier class that contributes nothing to production.
In economics, rentier capitalism describes systems where profit comes from controlling assets rather than creating value.
Something owned or inherent
- real-estateProperty and land
- estateProperty and grounds
- securitiesTradeable financial assets
- bondsTies that unite
stocks · portfolio · holdings · endowment · freehold · leasehold · patent · copyright
Profits paid to shareholders
- royaltiesOngoing payments to creators
- annuitiesPeriodic fixed payments
- interestAttention, stake, or fee
- yieldsGives forth results
returns · fixed-income · perpetuities · revenue · receipts · proceeds
Rule by hereditary elite
- bourgeoisieCapitalist ownership class
- gentryHighborn but not noble
- plutocratRuler through wealth
- oligarchMember of small ruling class
patrician · noble · elite · propertied · privileged · rentiers · capitalist · magnate
One seller, no substitutes
- exploitationSelfish use of others
- usuryExtortionate money lending
- enclosureConfined, bordered space
- tollFee for passage
sinecure · privilege · gatekeeping · speculation · parasitic · unproductive · appropriation
One who receives legacy
- heiressFemale wealth recipient
- legacyWhat's passed down
- patrimonyInherited estate or legacy
- bequestGift left by will
birthright · dynasty · succession · entitlement · primogeniture · ancestral
property
Something owned or inherent
- real-estateProperty and land
- estateProperty and grounds
- securitiesTradeable financial assets
bonds · stocks · portfolio · holdings · endowment · freehold · leasehold · patent · copyright · licensing
dividends
Profits paid to shareholders
- royaltiesOngoing payments to creators
- annuitiesPeriodic fixed payments
- interestAttention, stake, or fee
yields · returns · fixed-income · perpetuities · revenue · receipts · proceeds
aristocracy
Rule by hereditary elite
- bourgeoisieCapitalist ownership class
- gentryHighborn but not noble
- plutocratRuler through wealth
oligarch · patrician · noble · elite · propertied · privileged · rentiers · capitalist · magnate · tycoon
monopoly
One seller, no substitutes
- exploitationSelfish use of others
- usuryExtortionate money lending
- enclosureConfined, bordered space
toll · sinecure · privilege · gatekeeping · speculation · parasitic · unproductive · appropriation
heir
One who receives legacy
bequest · birthright · dynasty · succession · entitlement · primogeniture · ancestral
- wealthy elitebillionaire, multimillionaire, millionaire, ultra-rich, affluent
- capitalistscapitalist, investor, financier, tycoon, mogul
- wealthy typesheiress, socialite, trust fund baby, trust fund kid, old money
- wealthriches, wealth, fortune, affluence, prosperity
- Wealthyrich, wealthy, affluent, affluence, wealth
- landlordslandlord, lessor, property owner, absentee landlord, slumlord
rentierwage earner
Paid labor participant
worker · breadwinner · day laborer · hourly worker · freelancer
rentierentrepreneur
One who starts businesses
producer · innovator · industrialist · maker · builder
rentierproletarian
Wage laborer, no capital
working class · worker · employee · hired hand · blue-collar worker