standard of living

noun phrase

1

: the necessities, comforts, and luxuries enjoyed or aspired to by an individual or group

2

: a minimum of necessities, comforts, or luxuries held essential to maintaining a person or group in customary or proper status or circumstances

Examples of standard of living in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

That money pays for good roads, cheap gas, nice schools and free medical care, a Scandinavian standard of living that many Greenlanders are reluctant to give up. —Jeffrey Gettleman, New York Times, 20 Feb. 2025

Their opulence compared with the standard of living of their co-citizens becomes harder to justify, and widespread resentment, seemingly inevitable. —Brian Klaas, The Atlantic, 7 Feb. 2025

This is the classic useless expenditure from the standard of living perspective. —Brian Domitrovic, Forbes, 20 Dec. 2024

And that vision did deliver: global trade, standards of living, levels of health, and education all rose, while world poverty fell. —Ned Temko, The Christian Science Monitor, 23 Jan. 2025

Word History

First Known Use

1825, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Rhymes for standard of living

• almsgiving
• caregiving
• forgiving
• misgiving
• nonliving
• reliving
• thanksgiving
• giving
• sieving
• unforgiving

Kids Definition

standard of living

: the necessities, comforts, and luxuries that a person or group is accustomed to