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
In the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, mercantilist theory was embraced by most European nations, especially France and England.
From Textbooks ● Dec. 14, 2022
Of course Great Britain's mercantilist trade regulations were not at once abandoned, but they had received a death-blow, and British commerce seemed none the worse for it.
From A Political and Social History of Modern Europe V.1. by Hayes, Carlton J. H.
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.
