capital-intensive

[ kap-i-tl-in-ten-siv ]

adjective

requiring or using a very large amount of capital relative to the need for or use of labor.

Origin of capital-intensive

¹

First recorded in 1955–60

Compare labor-intensive.

Words Nearby capital-intensive

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use capital-intensive in a sentence

Some more recent examples: Intel was founded in 1968 and operated in a highly competitive, capital intensive industry.
Amazon Stock May Be Up, but the Company Still Doesn’t Make Any Money | Daniel Gross | October 25, 2013 | THE DAILY BEAST
Automaking is a notoriously difficult, capital-intensive business.
Start-Up Automaker Elio Builds Small, Cheap, Two-Seater Car | Daniel Gross | August 8, 2013 | THE DAILY BEAST
ExxonMobil may be an old-school, capital-intensive resource company, but it is churning out results that rival those of Apple.
ExxonMobil’s Profits and Market Capitalization Rival Apple’s | Sarah Langs | August 1, 2013 | THE DAILY BEAST

Cultural definitions for capital-intensive

capital-intensive

A term describing industries that employ relatively few laborers but that use expensive equipment. (Compare labor-intensive.)

The New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

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