developing
Americanadjective
-
undergoing development; growing; evolving.
-
(of a nation or geographical area) having a standard of living or level of industrial production well below that possible with financial or technical aid; not yet highly industrialized.
the developing world.
Other Word Forms
- nondeveloping adjective
- self-developing adjective
- undeveloping adjective
Etymology
Origin of developing
Explanation
Use the adjective developing to describe a country that's relatively poor and has a lower standard of living than most other countries in the world. There's not a specific standard for calling a country developing, but there are some societies that most of the world agrees are less industrialized than most. Developing countries generally have poorer people and a less vibrant economy than more developed countries. Some countries object to being called developing, since it implies that all countries want to become "developed," or more Western in their economy and government, which is not necessarily true.
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.
To address these issues, the team spent two years developing and testing different designs.
From Science Daily • Apr. 19, 2026
In the early 20th century, Woods continued to innovate, developing overhead conducting systems that allowed electric streetcars and trolleys to replace steam power.
From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 18, 2026
A criticism of all of these studies is the technology is developing rapidly, meaning the software powering the chatbots has moved on by the time the research is published.
From BBC • Apr. 18, 2026
Both companies brought to market the first GLP-1 injections for obesity; now they each have a pill, though they took different approaches to developing their oral medications.
From MarketWatch • Apr. 17, 2026
Today’s affluent societies are in the throes of a plague of obesity, which is rapidly spreading to developing countries.
From "Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind" by Yuval Noah Harari
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.
