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

Both approaches have proved successful throughout football and come with their own pros and cons.

From BBC • Jun. 22, 2026

After fretting and weighing the pros and cons, I eventually caved and decided to start mine young.

From Slate • Jun. 20, 2026

This activity itself isn’t new: People frequently work out the big picture of romantic compatibility by listing pros and cons, and the discovery of such a list is a recurring trope in sitcoms and rom-coms.

From Salon • Jun. 10, 2026

The team argued the pros and cons of killing a highly distinctive brand asset.

From The Wall Street Journal • May 16, 2026

We threw a couple names around, discussed pros and cons, and our personal opinions started to emerge.

From "Courage to Soar" by Simone Biles