pros and cons

American  

plural noun

1. the favorable and the unfavorable factors or reasons; advantages and disadvantages.

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pros and cons British  

plural noun

1. the various arguments in favour of and against a motion, course of action, etc

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pros and cons Idioms  

1. Arguments or considerations for and against something, as in We'd best weigh all the pros and cons before we decide to add a new wing to the library. This idiom is taken from the Latin pro for “for” and con for “against.” [Late 1500s]

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Etymology

Origin of pros and cons

C16: from Latin prō for + con, from contrā against

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

pros and cons

"So there are clearly options that need to be considered, and we have to look at what is doable, and what would be the pros and cons of each," he added.

From Barron's ● Sep. 30, 2026

Dalvin Brown details how the rule works and weighs the pros and cons for families deciding between earlier payouts and bigger lifetime checks.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 27, 2026

What are the pros and cons of a will versus a trust?

From MarketWatch ● Sep. 21, 2026

Jeff said they drew up a list of the pros and cons and the disadvantages were "far outweighed".

From BBC ● Aug. 10, 2026

Alec seemed to be weighing the pros and cons before he answered.

From "The Kill Order (Maze Runner, Book Four; Origin)" by James Dashner