moral hazard

American  

noun

1. Insurance. an insurance company's risk as to the insured's trustworthiness and honesty.

2. the risk that an individual or organization will act irresponsibly or recklessly if protected or exempt from the consequences of an action.

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moral hazard British  

noun

1. insurance a risk incurred by an insurance company with respect to the possible lack of honesty or prudence among policyholders

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Etymology

Origin of moral hazard

First recorded in 1915–20

Example Sentences

We will get more moral hazard and less economic dynamism.

From The Wall Street Journal • Oct. 19, 2025

These are at best irrelevant — more likely, a moral hazard.

From Salon • Jun. 5, 2025

One of the most common humanitarian quandaries, however, is a kind of moral hazard.

From Los Angeles Times • Oct. 24, 2023

A bailout will preserve services and the ability to borrow money, but create an expectation of help for peer governments—a classic moral hazard.

From Slate • Jun. 5, 2023

Because the lenders sold many—though not all—of the loans they made to other investors, in the form of mortgage bonds, the industry was also fraught with moral hazard.

From "The Big Short" by Michael Lewis