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Definitions

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.

A vendor at Colombo's Pettah night market, Wasantha Jayalath, 55, said he voted for Dissanayake in 2024 hoping for better times, but felt the situation was getting worse.

From Barron's • Apr. 4, 2026

The schedule promoted a free glam bar, which wasn’t staffed for most of the weekend, said Brielle Cenci, a vendor who paid several thousand dollars to have a booth.

From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 1, 2026

One vendor sold t-shirts with captions proclaiming “LEGEND” alternatively accompanying pictures of Charlie Kirk or, for some reason, Andy Griffith and Don Knotts together in costume from The Andy Griffith Show.

From Slate • Mar. 30, 2026

The occasion was the 100th anniversary of Bell Labs, the legendary research-and-development organization that was once the innovation engine within the old AT&T and is now part of Nokia, the Finland-based telecommunications vendor.

From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 28, 2026

“There’s nothing you can do,” the fruit vendor said.

From "Finding Junie Kim" by Ellen Oh

From Roget's 21st Century Thesaurus, Third Edition Copyright © 2013 by the Philip Lief Group.