Meaning & use
economic
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Meanings
adjectivebefore a noun
Connected with how a country or region produces, spends and shares money and goods.
Grammar: Almost always before a noun: economic growth, an economic crisis.
Patterns
- economic growth
- economic policy
The government announced a new economic plan to create jobs.
Economic growth slowed in the last quarter.
Rising prices have caused serious economic hardship for families.
adjectivecomparablebusiness
Producing enough profit to be worth doing.
Grammar: Often used in negatives: it is not economic to repair it.
Patterns
- not economic to do something
It is no longer economic to mine coal in this region.
The small farm was not an economic proposition.
Common combinations
- economic growth
- Economic growth rose by two percent last year.
- economic crisis
- The economic crisis closed hundreds of shops.
- economic policy
- Voters care most about economic policy.
- economic development
- New roads helped economic development in the region.
- economic downturn
- During the economic downturn, many people lost their jobs.
Synonyms and how they differ
- financial
- Financial concerns money handled by a person or company, while economic concerns a whole economy or system.
- fiscal
- Fiscal refers to government taxes and spending, so it is narrower than economic.
- commercial
- Commercial relates to buying and selling or making profit, rather than the wider workings of a country's wealth.
- monetary
- Monetary deals with money itself, such as currency and interest rates, which is only one part of the economy.
Opposites
Word family
- economy noun
- the system of money, trade and production in a place
- economics noun
- the study of how wealth is produced and used
- economist noun
- an expert in economics
- economically adverb
- in a way relating to the economy
- economize verb
- to spend less money
Commonly confused: economic or economical?
economic vs economical
Economical means not wasting money or resources, as in an economical car, while economic relates to the economy.
Practice
The minister said that ___ growth depended on investment in schools and roads.
Choose one answer.
Economic growth is the correct collocation for the wealth of a country; economical means thrifty, and economist and economize are a noun and a verb.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “economic”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.