- present participle of develop.
developing
Americanadjective
-
undergoing development; growing; evolving.
-
(of a nation or geographical area) having a standard of living or level of industrial production well below that possible with financial or technical aid; not yet highly industrialized.
the developing world.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Etymology
Origin of developing
Explanation
Use the adjective developing to describe a country that's relatively poor and has a lower standard of living than most other countries in the world. There's not a specific standard for calling a country developing, but there are some societies that most of the world agrees are less industrialized than most. Developing countries generally have poorer people and a less vibrant economy than more developed countries. Some countries object to being called developing, since it implies that all countries want to become "developed," or more Western in their economy and government, which is not necessarily true.
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.
He said that could include companies that are involved in developing the data centers that power AI tools, or the energy-infrastructure companies that serve the data centers.
From MarketWatch • Jun. 8, 2026
Google, however, is developing one of the more sophisticated strategies to clear the hurdles, particularly with its ability to secure the huge amounts of energy AI infrastructure requires.
From The Wall Street Journal • Jun. 7, 2026
For more on this developing story, click here External link.
From Barron's • Jun. 7, 2026
So Caligiuri, the youngest of five children, played against the garage, developing his own drills.
From Los Angeles Times • Jun. 7, 2026
The business of creating commercial rockets and ships is comparable to the early day of developing computers and the Internet.
From "Women in Space" by Karen Bush Gibson
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
