dot-coms

Cultural  

1. Colloquial name given to start-up companies that sell goods and services over the Internet. Dot-coms proliferated in the 1990s, but many failed by early 2000. The name comes from the “.com” ending of the Internet address of such companies.

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Example Sentences

Just as the dot-coms were priced based on hope that the internet would deliver a new era of profits from business models that were yet to be proven, so with AI.

From The Wall Street Journal • Dec. 14, 2025

“All this suggests that for AI companies, unlike dot-coms, the marginal cost of sales is relatively high, and the potential profit margin correspondingly thin,” Gave writes.

From Barron's • Nov. 21, 2025

And among dot-coms, it pretty much stood alone.

From MarketWatch • Oct. 31, 2025

If the promise of AI turns out to be as much of a mirage as dot-coms did, stock investors may face a painful reckoning.

From Los Angeles Times • Aug. 20, 2025

One of the most entrenched beliefs we’ve run into is the idea that dot-org sites are inherently more trustworthy than dot-coms.

From Seattle Times • Nov. 17, 2023