economic

[ ek-uh-nom-ik, ee-kuh- ]

adjective

1. pertaining to the production, distribution, and use of income, wealth, and commodities.
2. of or relating to the science of economics.
3. pertaining to an economy, or system of organization or operation, especially of the process of production.
4. involving or pertaining to one's personal resources of money:

   to give up a large house for economic reasons.

5. pertaining to use as a resource in the economy:

   economic entomology; economic botany.

6. affecting or apt to affect the welfare of material resources:

   weevils and other economic pests.

7. economical.

economic

/ ˌɛkə-; ˌiːkəˈnɒmɪk /

adjective

1. of or relating to an economy, economics, or finance

   economic theories

   economic development

2. capable of being produced, operated, etc, for profit; profitable

   the firm is barely economic

3. concerning or affecting material resources or welfare

   economic pests

4. concerned with or relating to the necessities of life; utilitarian
5. a variant of economical
6. informal.
   inexpensive; cheap

Other Words From

• anti·eco·nomic adjective
• none·co·nomic adjective
• preec·o·nomic adjective
• quasi-eco·nomic adjective
• subec·o·nomic adjective
• unec·o·nomic adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of economic¹

First recorded in 1585–95; from Middle French economique, from Latin oeconomicus, from Greek oikonomikós “relating to household management,” equivalent to oikonóm(os) “steward” (from oîko(s) “house” + nómos “manager”) + -ikos -ic

Example Sentences

Assessing the impact of the UK's decision to leave the EU on the economy has been tricky given the multiple economic shocks in recent years.

From BBC

"Bottom line, it's not a good story," he will say, describing how productivity has fallen since the 2008 economic crash and has not recovered since.

From BBC

While violence and persecution and economic opportunity remain the primary drivers pushing migrants into the U.S., the evidence increasingly also points to climate change as a growing factor.

From Salon

The intensifying economic and environmental pressures of the warming climate are now beginning to drive new wedges into old divisions.

From Salon

Global warming would “put strictures on the economic growth that has been the great social salve that has kept some groups, in some measure, from each other’s throats,” he told his close friend Otis Graham, the University of California, Santa Barbara, historian.

From Salon

Related Words

• budgetary
• commercial
• fiscal
• industrial
• monetary