economics
Americannoun
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economics
plural
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(used with a singular verb) the science that deals with the production, distribution, and consumption of goods and services, or the material welfare of humankind.
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(used with a plural verb) financial considerations; economically significant aspects.
What are the economics of such a project?
noun
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(functioning as singular) the social science concerned with the production and consumption of goods and services and the analysis of the commercial activities of a society See also macroeconomics microeconomics
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(functioning as plural) financial aspects
the economics of the project are very doubtful
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Economics is sometimes referred to as the “dismal science.”
Economics is generally understood to concern behavior that, given the scarcity of means, arises to achieve certain ends. When scarcity ceases, conventional economic theory may no longer be applicable. (See affluent society.)
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of economics
Explanation
Economics studies the production, distribution and consumption of goods and services and their management. People get jobs, they make things, they sell those things, they get paid, they use that money to buy other things. Economics makes the world go round. Economics is a branch of social science. Like dueling political parties, economists also support different theories about how to best regulate the economy with government policies. Since it relates to the financial health of countries and how countries interact through trade, the relevance of economics is enormous and often the subject of the evening news. "Home Economics" is the somewhat antiquated yet still relevant notion of the management of money, food, laundry, and cleaning that keep a house running smoothly.
Vocabulary lists containing economics
Economics
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The Friendship War
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The Enlightenment
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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.
China Galaxy International said unit economics at Meituan’s food-delivery unit also likely turned profitable in the second quarter as it cut back subsidies.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 28, 2026
He became crown prince in 1957, and studied social science, history and economics at Balliol College in Oxford from 1960 to 1962.
From BBC ● Aug. 28, 2026
This means a renewed focus on debt, trade, financial stability and banking regulation, Josh Lipsky, chair of international economics at the Atlantic Council think tank, told AFP.
From Barron's ● Aug. 27, 2026
One reason to be confident that AI’s market-beating odds won’t improve in any lasting way is a famous article written nearly forty years ago by William Sharpe, the 1990 Nobel laureate in economics.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 25, 2026
I had a good visit with Dr. Shawarbi’s son, Muhammad Sha- warbi, a nineteen-year-old, who was studying economics and political science at Cairo University.
From "The Autobiography of Malcolm X" by Alex Malcolm X;Hailey
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.
