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Synonyms

social science

American  

noun

  1. the study of society and social behavior.

  2. a science or field of study, as history, economics, etc., dealing with an aspect of society or forms of social activity.

social science British  

noun

  1. the study of society and of the relationship of individual members within society, including economics, history, political science, psychology, anthropology, and sociology

  2. any of these subjects studied individually

"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
social science Scientific  
/ sō′shəl /

  1. Any of various disciplines that study human society and social relationships, including sociology, psychology, anthropology, economics, political science, and history.

social science Cultural  

  1. The study of how groups of people behave, often in an effort to predict how they will behave in the future. The social sciences include economics, anthropology, sociology, political science, and aspects of psychology and history.

Other Word Forms

  • social scientist noun

Etymology

Origin of social science

First recorded in 1775–85

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.

Low teacher morale directly affects students, said Alex Robins, a social science teacher at Terra Linda High School in San Rafael.

From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 10, 2026

The good news is that social science has answers.

From The Wall Street Journal • Dec. 30, 2025

According to Home Office visa statistics, the total number of people receiving a visa for a job in natural and social science in the last quarter was 323 people.

From BBC • Dec. 4, 2025

But social science and psychology research presents a more nuanced picture of the emotions that drive action.

From Salon • Dec. 1, 2024

I offer the Schieffer-Ardolino and Financial Times cases as just two examples of how the flattening of the world has happened faster and changed rules, roles, and relationships more quickly than social science can capture.

From "The World Is Flat" by Thomas L. Friedman

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.