- 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
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.
“And I was blessed with the gift of … developing a genuine, sincere friendship with Kyle that exists outside of the context of work.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 17, 2026
"The second is of course developing young players."
From BBC ● Aug. 15, 2026
As the University of Pennsylvania’s Lee put it, Google is running a different AI strategy than companies like OpenAI and Anthropic, which are primarily developing models and selling tokens to application developers.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 15, 2026
A large study has found that women who used hormone therapy later in life had a lower risk of developing dementia.
From Science Daily ● Aug. 14, 2026
In this first illustration from her new book, Metamorphosis insectorum Surinamensium, Maria shows a pineapple plant that has just flowered and is developing fruit.
From "The Girl Who Drew Butterflies: How Maria Merian's Art Changed Science" by Joyce Sidman
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.
