mercantilist
Americanadjective
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supporting or reflecting the mercantile system; promoting economic protectionism or the aggressive pursuit of a favorable balance of trade.
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embracing the attitudes and values of commercialism.
noun
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a person who favors the principles of the mercantile system.
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a person who embraces the attitudes and values of commercialism.
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.
After the first Gulf War, he points out, the U.S. “did not attempt to seize the region’s oil fields for itself, which would have been the classical mercantilist approach.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 10, 2026
China, once a glutton for goods made in Germany, has turned into a mercantilist superpower.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 28, 2026
Meanwhile, Japan and the U.K. are accommodating America’s mercantilist behavior.
From Barron's ● Oct. 16, 2025
How did mercantilist policies hurt the working class?
From Textbooks ● Dec. 14, 2022
To build up English industry and commerce on mercantilist principles was the basis of the Whig economic system.
From The Colonization of North America 1492-1783 by Herbert Eugene Bolton
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.
