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

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

From BBC ● Aug. 10, 2026

We spend a lot of time here at Help Me Retire discussing the pros and cons of claiming Social Security early versus waiting until full retirement age or even age 70.

From MarketWatch ● Jul. 9, 2026

I tried it on a Saturday earlier this month to size up the pros and cons because it might be coming to an off-airport location near you as efforts to ease airport congestion increase.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 24, 2026

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

From Slate ● Jun. 20, 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