Veblen

American  

[veb-luhn] / ˈvɛb lən /

noun

1. Oswald, 1880–1960, U.S. mathematician.

2. Thorstein 1857–1929, U.S. economist and sociologist.

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Veblen British  

/ ˈvɛblən /

noun

1. Thorstein (ˈθɔːstɪn). 1857–1929, US economist and social scientist, noted for his analysis of social and economic institutions. His works include The Theory of the Leisure Class (1899) and The Theory of Business Enterprise (1904)

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Example Sentences

In 1976, Simons received the American Mathematical Society’s Oswald Veblen Prize in Geometry for research that would prove to be influential to string theory and other areas of physics.

From Seattle Times • May 10, 2024

In economics, Veblen goods are things you buy not for their intrinsic worth but to display how much disposable income you have.

From Los Angeles Times • May 30, 2023

Giana M. Eckhardt, professor of marketing at King’s College London, is co-author of a 2020 paper called “New Dynamics of Social Status and Distinction” that summarizes 21st-century academia’s attempts to update Veblen.

From New York Times • Jan. 16, 2023

Veblen had a similarly dark, sardonic sense of humor.

From Salon • Apr. 19, 2019

“The observance of these standards,” Veblen wrote, “in some degree of approximation, becomes incumbent upon all classes lower in the scale.”

From "Class Matters" by The New York Times