financial
Americanadjective
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pertaining to monetary receipts and expenditures; pertaining or relating to money matters; pecuniary.
financial operations.
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of or relating to those commonly engaged in dealing with money and credit.
noun
adjective
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of or relating to finance or finances
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of or relating to persons who manage money, capital, or credit
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informal having money; in funds
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(of a club member) fully paid-up
Synonym Usage
Financial, fiscal, monetary, pecuniary refer to matters concerned with money. Financial usually refers to money matters or transactions of some size or importance: a financial wizard. Fiscal is used especially in connection with government funds, or those of any organization: the end of the fiscal year. Monetary relates especially to money as such: a monetary system or standard. Pecuniary refers to money as used in making ordinary payments: a pecuniary obligation or reward.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Etymology
Origin of financial
Explanation
If you are short on cash, you might say you have a financial problem. Talking about finances is a polite and formal way to refer to money. The similarity between the words financial and finish is no accident. Both come from the Old French word fine, which was generally used to mean "end" or "finish" and more specifically to mean "end a debt." If you pay a fine, you end the debt you owe society for, say, spitting your gum on the sidewalk, or failing to clean up after your dog.
Vocabulary lists containing financial
The Vocabulary.com Top 1000
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Unit 3: Compelling Evidence
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Michelle Obama's final address as First Lady (2017)
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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.
Ever the optimist, Byford touts the quality of Chakrabarti’s design and Cipriano’s financial plans.
From The Wall Street Journal • Jun. 13, 2026
SpaceX's valuation is largely based on optimism about its potential future earnings, as opposed to financial results it has demonstrated so far.
From BBC • Jun. 12, 2026
Along with its earnings report, Adobe said its chief financial officer, Dan Durn, was leaving the company in June.
From Barron's • Jun. 12, 2026
SpaceX CEO Elon Musk is a “mastermind of financial engineering,” said Spencer Jackson, a former SpaceX engineer and the CEO of Critical Energy, a startup working on making clean energy more accessible.
From MarketWatch • Jun. 12, 2026
Charlie knew a prominent historian of financial crises, a former professor of his, and took to calling him.
From "The Big Short" by Michael Lewis
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.
