financial
Americanadjective
-
pertaining to monetary receipts and expenditures; pertaining or relating to money matters; pecuniary.
financial operations.
-
of or relating to those commonly engaged in dealing with money and credit.
noun
adjective
-
of or relating to finance or finances
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of or relating to persons who manage money, capital, or credit
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informal having money; in funds
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(of a club member) fully paid-up
Related Words
Financial, fiscal, monetary, pecuniary refer to matters concerned with money. Financial usually refers to money matters or transactions of some size or importance: a financial wizard. Fiscal is used especially in connection with government funds, or those of any organization: the end of the fiscal year. Monetary relates especially to money as such: a monetary system or standard. Pecuniary refers to money as used in making ordinary payments: a pecuniary obligation or reward.
Other Word Forms
- financially adverb
- nonfinancial adjective
- nonfinancially adverb
- prefinancial adjective
- quasi-financial adjective
- quasi-financially adverb
Etymology
Origin of financial
Explanation
If you are short on cash, you might say you have a financial problem. Talking about finances is a polite and formal way to refer to money. The similarity between the words financial and finish is no accident. Both come from the Old French word fine, which was generally used to mean "end" or "finish" and more specifically to mean "end a debt." If you pay a fine, you end the debt you owe society for, say, spitting your gum on the sidewalk, or failing to clean up after your dog.
Vocabulary lists containing financial
The Vocabulary.com Top 1000
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Unit 3: Compelling Evidence
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Michelle Obama's final address as First Lady (2017)
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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.
Instead of laying off people in more incremental—and less disruptive—waves, employers are seizing on the potential financial upsides of severing swaths of their workforces at once.
From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 16, 2026
Spirit returned to bankruptcy court in August, less than a year after a previous chapter 11 restructuring failed to solve financial challenges presented by its no-frills business model.
From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 16, 2026
"Where institutions can't agree a way forward with students, they should stand ready to offer appropriate redress, which could include financial compensation. Students must be treated fairly and in line with consumer law."
From BBC • Apr. 15, 2026
One analyst says prediction markets have a way to go before financial institutions begin trading on them.
From Barron's • Apr. 15, 2026
Now a fairy tale was being reinvented before his eyes in the financial markets.
From "The Big Short" by Michael Lewis
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.
