SKIP TO CONTENT

payee

/peɪˈi/
/peɪˈi/
IPA guide

Other forms: payees

A payee is someone who receives money. If your boss hands you your first paycheck, then you are officially a payee. Congrats.

Anyone who is paid is a payee, but the term is most commonly used to mean the person (or organization) whose name is written on a check after the words "pay to the order of." If you write a check to pay your cable bill, the cable company is the payee. And if they make a billing mistake and issue you a refund check, you're the payee. Payee uses the suffix -ee, which means "recipient."

Definitions of payee
  1. noun
    a person to whom money is paid
    see moresee less
    type of:
    receiver, recipient
    a person who receives something
Cite this entry
Style:
MLA
  • MLA
  • APA
  • Chicago

Copy citation
DISCLAIMER: These example sentences appear in various news sources and books to reflect the usage of the word ‘payee'. Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Vocabulary.com or its editors. Send us feedback
Word Family