Meanings
plural lotologists
- A person who collects lottery tickets as a hobby.
Although most lotologists collect scratch tickets that have already been scratched, approximately 15% of lotologists collect unscratched tickets.
2014, Eric LeMay, In Praise of Nothing: Essays, Memoir, and Experiments, New York, N.Y.: Emergency Press, →ISBN3 more examples
[Alfred] Ricks is a lotologist, one of a growing number of people who collect, study and admire lottery tickets – not for the prizes they promise, but for their art and value as collectors' items.
1998 August 23, Richard Stewart, “Hobby doesn’t start from scratch: Unused lottery tickets worth more than their prizes to collectors”, in The Houston Chronicle, Houston, Tex.: Hearst Communications, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 02 May 2012, section A, page 1Star Trek scratch-off tickets are probably the most valuable of all the California games because they are prized by thousands of Trekkies as well as "lotologists."
1998 October 22, “Resisting the Urge to Scratch”, in The Sacramento Bee, Sacramento, Calif.: The McClatchy Company, →ISSN, →OCLCHeld this year in northeast Philadelphia, the gathering is an opportunity to meet other self-described "lotologists," trade tickets and take a gander at the never-ending multitude of collectible material.
2011 July 29, The Denver Post, Denver, Colo.: Digital First Media, published 3 May 2016 (updated), →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 20 Mar 2019
Origin
Possibly lot(tery) + -ologist.
Full word history & related roots →Cite this entry
lotologist. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/lotologist
“lotologist.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/lotologist. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “lotologist,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/lotologist.
Source: lotologist on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.