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economics

noun

Simple meaning

The study of resource allocation, distribution and consumption.

Pronunciation

Say it like this:

ehkuhnahmiks

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IPA pronunciation (US)

ɛkəˈnɑmɪks

This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.

IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.

Word Review

Definition

Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.

noun

  1. social sciences

    The study of resource allocation, distribution and consumption; of capital and investment; and of management of the factors of production.

  2. social sciences

    The branch of social science that deals with the production and distribution and consumption of goods and services and their management

Word at a Glance

Difficulty
A1 · Beginner (estimated)
Frequency
Common
Typical Use
General English

Word Aura™

How this word commonly comes across.

This meaning: (social sciences) The study of resource allocation, distribution and consumption; of capital and investment; and of management of the factors of production.

Used this way, economics is a reasonably familiar word that usually carries little praise or criticism of its own. It turns up most in business or professional and finance or economics contexts.

Emotional tone
Neutral
Formality
Neutral
Intensity
Not strongly marked
How common
Moderately common
Connotation
Matter-of-fact
Usage feel
Neutral and straightforward

Where it naturally appears

  • Business/professional
  • Finance/economics

Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.

More ways to use economics

  • “She is studying economics at the university this semester.”noun

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Common Patterns and Combinations

How this word naturally appears with others.

home economicswelfare economicsbusiness economicseconomics departmentinternational economicsdevelopment economicsenvironmental economicslabor economics

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Word Family

Related forms, grouped by how they connect.

Word family

Words built from the same root.

  • economicaladjectiveDerived adjective

    Of or relating to an economy, the system of production and management of material wealth.

  • economicallyadverbDerived adverb

    With respect to economic science.

Compound terms

Established multiword terms.

  • economics departmentnounCompound term

    The academic department responsible for teaching and research in economics.

  • economics professionnounCompound term

    The body of professional economists.

  • home economicsnounCompound term

    Theory and practice of homemaking.

  • supply-side economicsnounCompound term

    The school of economic theory that stresses the costs of production as a means of stimulating the economy.

Related words

Connected by subject or meaning, not by word formation.

  • economic consumptionnounRelated term

    The utilization of economic goods to satisfy needs or in manufacturing.

  • economic expertnounRelated term

    An expert in the science of economics.

  • economic theorynounRelated term

    A theory of commercial activities (such as the production and consumption of goods).

Related Words

Connected to the same idea, not synonyms.

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Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.