opportunity cost

American  

[op-er-too-ni-tee kawst] / ˌɒp ərˈtu nɪ ti ˌkɔst /

noun

Economics.

1. the money or other benefits lost when pursuing a particular course of action instead of a mutually-exclusive alternative.

   The company cannot afford the opportunity cost attached to policy decisions made by the current CEO.

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opportunity cost British  

noun

1. economics the benefit that could have been gained from an alternative use of the same resource

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Etymology

Origin of opportunity cost

First recorded in 1910–15

Compare meaning

How does opportunity-cost compare to similar and commonly confused words? Explore the most common comparisons:

• trade-off vs. opportunity cost

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

opportunity cost

A higher interest-rate environment typically weighs on nonyielding assets such as gold by increasing the opportunity cost of holding bullion.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 28, 2026

A lengthy calculation is not worth the opportunity cost if the chance of success is extremely low.

From Slate ● Jun. 22, 2026

“I don’t think anybody is going to change a policy on a year or two of performance, but the opportunity cost of not having that exposure in your portfolio has increased pretty significantly,” Yates says.

From Barron's ● Jun. 10, 2026

Over any longer period, the opportunity cost of holding it is likely to exceed that of poor timing in the stock market.

From The Wall Street Journal ● May 28, 2026

But the opportunity cost of tying up $160,000 with the IRS, along with potential capital-gains taxes from liquidating investments, likely approaches the cost of simply taking the RMD.

From MarketWatch ● Mar. 23, 2026