externality
Americannoun
PLURAL
externalities-
the state or quality of being external to or outside someone or something; the fact of being outer, outward, or on the surface.
A child just learning to speak already has a sense of the externality of the world.
-
something external; an outward feature, or all outward features considered together.
One can be too preoccupied with the externalities of religion.
-
excessive attention to external or outward features; superficiality.
The article explores the externality of identity in a world of media-constructed self-image.
-
a side effect of some process or activity, especially a negative effect of an economic activity that is not accounted for in the price of what is produced.
Externalities such as air pollution are sometimes eliminated through government regulation.
They argue that there is an externality from breeding new pets, as the cute babies crowd out older pets.
Other Word Forms
- nonexternality noun
Etymology
Origin of externality
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.
"As one-off gains of similar magnitude may not materialise and, coupled with the numerous headwinds and externalities... its reported results in 2023 are expected to be affected," the filing said.
From Reuters
As matters of public economics, taxing and spending decisions generate positive and negative externalities — spillovers onto people from neighboring and distant states.
From Washington Post
The future is all about creating zero-waste models that don’t burden citizens with having to pay for the negative externalities of excessive-waste management.
From Washington Post
We got to this point through hundreds of years of perverse economic incentives and environmental externalities.
From Salon
And a huge component involves measuring what food companies call "externalities."
From Salon
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.
