expansionary

adjective

ex·​pan·​sion·​ary ik-ˈspan(t)-shə-ˌner-ē How to pronounce expansionary (audio)
: tending toward expansion
an expansionary economy

Examples of expansionary in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Historically, housing markets have led the way out of recessions, as interest rates typically fall in response to expansionary monetary policy and house prices fall as a result of a decline in aggregate demand. Paul Du Quenoy, MSNBC Newsweek, 27 Mar. 2025 The other companies engaged in surveillance capitalism at the highest level—Amazon, Facebook, Microsoft, and the big telecommunications companies—also face the same expansionary imperatives. Paul Starr, Foreign Affairs, 10 Oct. 2019 Crowds took to the streets of Suwayda, a Druze majority Syrian city, to protest his call to demilitarize southern Syria and regional leaders representing the group accused Israel of expansionary goals. Mostafa Salem, CNN, 14 Mar. 2025 The budget is already $840 billion in the hole through just the first four months of fiscal 2025 as the deficit runs above 6% as a share of gross domestic product, a level virtually unheard of in a peacetime, expansionary economy. Jeff Cox, CNBC, 6 Mar. 2025 See All Example Sentences for expansionary

Word History

First Known Use

1936, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of expansionary was in 1936

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Cite this Entry

“Expansionary.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/expansionary. Accessed 13 Apr. 2025.

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