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pros and cons

American  

plural noun

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


pros and cons British  

plural noun

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

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

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]


Etymology

Origin of pros and cons

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

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.

What are the pros and cons of a “big stick” approach to diplomacy?

From The Wall Street Journal

Your approach had its pros and cons.

From MarketWatch

That’s what it is growing up in the spotlight, everything has its pros and cons.

From Los Angeles Times

“I did absolutely nothing, just waiting for reactions to come in and reviews to come in because you really never know how people are going to react. There’s pros and cons to the show growing in size in the way it did — people just take it apart to an insane degree. It’s scary, always scary. You never really get used to it.”

From Los Angeles Times

She said shopping on a rainy day had its pros and cons.

From Los Angeles Times