capitalism

[kap-i-tl-iz-uhm]

noun

1. an economic system in which investment in and ownership of the means of production, distribution, and exchange of wealth is made and maintained chiefly by private individuals or corporations, especially as contrasted to cooperatively or state-owned means of wealth.

capitalism

/ ˈkæpɪtəˌlɪzəm /

noun

1. Also called: free enterprise.  private enterprise. an economic system based on the private ownership of the means of production, distribution, and exchange, characterized by the freedom of capitalists to operate or manage their property for profit in competitive conditions Compare socialism

capitalism

1. An economic and political system characterized by a free market for goods and services and private control of production and consumption. (Compare socialism and communism.)

Other Word Forms

• anticapitalism noun
• procapitalism noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of capitalism¹

First recorded in 1850–55; capital ¹ + -ism

Example Sentences

“There’s a funny moment when you realize that as an activist: The off-ramp out of extreme poverty is, ugh, commerce, it’s entrepreneurial capitalism.”

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It analyzes the forces of corruption and moral probity, capitalism and benevolence—all the rich contradictions and absurdities of the world glimpsed in Jane Austen’s novels.

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Young people, growing up without any solid economic pedagogy or figures like Thomas Sowell to look up to, don’t see reasons to appreciate capitalism or oppose socialism.

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It took a satirical American novel chronicling capitalism’s crushing effects on a schlubby, middle-age dad to reunite them for Oscar submission “No Other Choice.”

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Beachler: The first sketches of the juke joint I drew were red, representing capitalism, hedonism, all the things we are under the cover of the dark.

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