developing
Americanadjective
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undergoing development; growing; evolving.
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(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
Derived Forms
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.
During the two-day summit, Kim is expected to turn Beijing’s vows for cooperation into tangible rewards such as expanding cross-border trade and tourism and further developing border economic zones.
From The Wall Street Journal • Jun. 8, 2026
Perhaps the biggest challenge, and one faced by all companies building humanoid robots, is developing artificial intelligence that can operate in the real world and cope with unpredictable and complicated situations.
From BBC • Jun. 8, 2026
He said that could include companies that are involved in developing the data centers that power AI tools, or the energy-infrastructure companies that serve the data centers.
From MarketWatch • Jun. 8, 2026
For more on this developing story, click here External link.
From Barron's • Jun. 7, 2026
And, like Brugman bringing in the ruby laser ranger and Voight adding his knowledge of landslides, the CVO is constantly updating their tools and developing new ones.
From "Mountain of Fire" by Rebecca E. F. Barone
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.
