social science

American  

noun

1. the study of society and social behavior.

2. a science or field of study, as history, economics, etc., dealing with an aspect of society or forms of social activity.

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social science British  

noun

1. the study of society and of the relationship of individual members within society, including economics, history, political science, psychology, anthropology, and sociology

2. any of these subjects studied individually

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social science Scientific  

/ sō′shəl /

1. Any of various disciplines that study human society and social relationships, including sociology, psychology, anthropology, economics, political science, and history.

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social science Cultural  

1. The study of how groups of people behave, often in an effort to predict how they will behave in the future. The social sciences include economics, anthropology, sociology, political science, and aspects of psychology and history.

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• social scientist
  noun

Etymology

Origin of social science

First recorded in 1775–85

Example Sentences

In law and social science, we call this impact a chilling effect – the behavioral tendency for people in face of a threat to self-censor and restrain their activities for self-protection.

From Salon • May 28, 2026

I am part of an interdisciplinary team of computer science, AI, cybersecurity, psychology, social science, journalism and policy researchers who have sounded the alarm about the threat of malicious AI swarms.

From Salon • Feb. 15, 2026

The good news is that social science has answers.

From The Wall Street Journal • Dec. 30, 2025

According to Home Office visa statistics, the total number of people receiving a visa for a job in natural and social science in the last quarter was 323 people.

From BBC • Dec. 4, 2025

So, the highest of all our complex technologies in the hardest of our sciences will soon be engaged, full scale, in what is essentially biologic research—and with some aspects of social science, at that.

From "The Lives of a Cell" by Lewis Thomas

Related Words

• business
• finance