Meaning & use
economic disadvantage
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Meanings
nouncountable or uncountable
A lack of money or resources that leaves a person, family or region worse off than others.
Grammar: Often uncountable: children facing economic disadvantage.
Patterns
- economic disadvantage among someone
- economic disadvantage in something
Economic disadvantage can affect a child's results at school.
The program supports families living with economic disadvantage.
Researchers linked poor health to long-term economic disadvantage.
nouncountablebusiness
A financial drawback or cost that puts one business, country or group in a weaker position than competitors.
Grammar: Takes a: a clear economic disadvantage.
Patterns
- an economic disadvantage compared with someone
- put someone at an economic disadvantage
Higher shipping costs put the island's farmers at an economic disadvantage.
Small firms often suffer an economic disadvantage in public bidding.
The tariff gave local companies an economic disadvantage abroad.
Word forms
| plural | economic disadvantages |
|---|
Common combinations
- suffer economic disadvantage
- Rural areas often suffer economic disadvantage.
- at an economic disadvantage
- The new rule leaves small shops at an economic disadvantage.
- overcome economic disadvantage
- She overcame economic disadvantage to win a scholarship.
- long-term economic disadvantage
- Long-term economic disadvantage affects whole communities.
- economic disadvantage and health
- The report looks at economic disadvantage and health.
Synonyms and how they differ
- poverty
- Poverty means a severe lack of money, but economic disadvantage can describe a milder gap compared with others.
- deprivation
- Deprivation stresses going without basic needs, whereas economic disadvantage stresses relative position.
- hardship
- Hardship describes the difficult experience itself, while economic disadvantage names the financial position causing it.
Opposites
Word family
- disadvantage noun
- a condition that makes success harder
- disadvantaged adjective
- in a weaker or poorer position than others
- economic adjective
- relating to money, trade and production
- economically adverb
- in a way that relates to the economy or to money
Commonly confused: economic disadvantage or economical?
economic disadvantage vs economical
Economical means cheap to use or careful with money, but economic means relating to the economy, as in economic disadvantage.
Practice
Students who face economic disadvantage may struggle to buy ___ for school.
Choose one answer.
Supplies is a noun meaning things needed for school. Suppliers are the people or firms that sell goods, and the other options are verb forms that do not fit after buy.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “economic disadvantage”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.