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.
Ellen Meade is research professor of economics at Duke University and a member of the Dallas Fed’s Academic Advisory Council.
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 16, 2026
These arrangements reveal the increasingly strange economics of the drought.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 16, 2026
Antoine Legrand, a 24-year-old economics and social sciences teacher also in Aubervilliers, has been in the profession for just a month but has already experienced some pressures.
From Barron's ● Oct. 16, 2026
A more efficient chip can improve operating economics while a larger deployment consumes additional cash.
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 16, 2026
They may also have been thinking of pure economics: Once you cut cane, it begins to dry out.
From "Sugar Changed the World: A Story of Magic, Spice, Slavery, Freedom, and Science" by Marc Aronson
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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.
