economics
Americannoun
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economics
plural
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(used with a singular verb) the science that deals with the production, distribution, and consumption of goods and services, or the material welfare of humankind.
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(used with a plural verb) financial considerations; economically significant aspects.
What are the economics of such a project?
noun
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(functioning as singular) the social science concerned with the production and consumption of goods and services and the analysis of the commercial activities of a society See also macroeconomics microeconomics
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(functioning as plural) financial aspects
the economics of the project are very doubtful
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Economics is sometimes referred to as the “dismal science.”
Economics is generally understood to concern behavior that, given the scarcity of means, arises to achieve certain ends. When scarcity ceases, conventional economic theory may no longer be applicable. (See affluent society.)
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of economics
Explanation
Economics studies the production, distribution and consumption of goods and services and their management. People get jobs, they make things, they sell those things, they get paid, they use that money to buy other things. Economics makes the world go round. Economics is a branch of social science. Like dueling political parties, economists also support different theories about how to best regulate the economy with government policies. Since it relates to the financial health of countries and how countries interact through trade, the relevance of economics is enormous and often the subject of the evening news. "Home Economics" is the somewhat antiquated yet still relevant notion of the management of money, food, laundry, and cleaning that keep a house running smoothly.
Vocabulary lists containing economics
Economics
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The Friendship War
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The Enlightenment
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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.
Research co-authored by Matteo Sandi, an economics professor at the University of Milan, looked at children growing up in areas where Right to Buy uptake was highest.
From BBC ● Nov. 6, 2026
The internet isn’t going anywhere; the question for investors is who makes money as AI disrupts its economics.
From MarketWatch ● Nov. 4, 2026
Plus: AI in economics, William Nordhaus’s climate insights, and how the U.S. is beating China in the ‘Global Office.’
From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 3, 2026
Over the last four years, L.A. budgeted about $4 billion to address the homeless crisis — about $100,000 for every homeless person in the city, according to Lee Ohanian, a professor of economics at UCLA.
From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 3, 2026
Some of the signs of flattening back home, though, had nothing to do with economics.
From "The World Is Flat" by Thomas L. Friedman
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Get a wordDefinitions 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.
