developing

American  

[dih-vel-uh-ping] / dɪˈvɛl ə pɪŋ /

adjective

1. undergoing development; growing; evolving.

2. (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.

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Other Word Forms

• nondeveloping adjective
• self-developing adjective
• undeveloping adjective

Etymology

Origin of developing

First recorded in 1765–75; develop + -ing ²

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

Within these groups, the likelihood of developing melanoma within five years reached approximately 33%.

From Science Daily • Apr. 15, 2026

CBS Entertainment President Amy Reisenbach acknowledged the network wasn’t actively developing a replacement late-night show; instead the effort was in the brainstorming stage.

From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 15, 2026

Swinney said he did not agree with Trump's comments, adding: "I think we have got enormous challenges about energy, but Scotland is an energy-rich country which is developing formidable renewable energy resources."

From BBC • Apr. 15, 2026

Acquiring Globalstar would expand Amazon’s constellation and help it build a direct-to-device satellite system to rival the one that Starlink is developing.

From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 14, 2026

At higher levels of exposure, the probability of a worker later developing cancer begins to climb.

From "Meltdown" by Deirdre Langeland

Related Words

• booming
• burgeoning
• flourishing
• growing
• healthy
• prosperous
• robust
• wealthy