noneconomic

IPA/ˌnɒn.iː.kəˈnɒm.ɪk/
KK[nˌɑnˌɛkənˈɑmɪk]IPA/ˌnɑːn.ek.əˈnɑː.mɪk/

noneconomic — adjective

  • noneconomicpositive
  • more noneconomiccomparative
  • most noneconomicsuperlative

1. connected with social, personal, moral, or historical matters instead of with bu

1.adjectiveC1
Definition

connected with social, personal, moral, or historical matters instead of with business activity or financial concerns

Example

The report studied noneconomic reasons for migration, such as war and family separation.

noneconomic + reasons

Padma said the forest had noneconomic value for nearby villages and schools.

noneconomic + value

Common collocations
  • noneconomic reasons
  • noneconomic factors
  • noneconomic effects
  • noneconomic value
Synonyms
  • nonfinancial

    closest near-synonym; usually stays closer to reporting, budgets, or money matters

  • social

    narrower; focuses on people, relationships, and community effects

  • cultural

    narrower; used for language, tradition, art, or shared identity

  • moral

    narrower; used when right and wrong are the main concern

Antonyms
  • economic

    the direct opposite; related to trade, industry, or money

  • financial

    more specifically about money, funding, or budgeting

  • commercial

    focuses on business activity and selling goods or services

Grammar Patterns

noneconomic + reason / factor / effect / value

be noneconomic

Usage Note

Often appears before nouns like 'reasons', 'factors', 'effects', and 'value'. It contrasts social, personal, moral, or historical concerns with questions of trade, industry, or money.

Common Mistakes

They moved for economic reasons like staying near grandparents.
They moved for noneconomic reasons like staying near grandparents.
family ties are personal reasons, not money-related ones.
The bus route became noneconomic, so the company cut it.
The bus route became uneconomic, so the company cut it.
'noneconomic' means not about money or trade; 'uneconomic' means not worth continuing financially.

Word family

Synonym discussion

Sense: adjective/1

'Noneconomic' is the widest choice when something lies outside trade, industry, or money. 'Nonfinancial' is the closest near-synonym, but it usually stays nearer to business, reporting, and budgeting language. 'Social' narrows the focus to people, communities, and relationships, while 'cultural' points to traditions, language, art, or shared identity. 'Moral' is narrower still and highlights questions of right and wrong. A policy can have noneconomic effects in general, social effects on family life, cultural effects on local customs, and moral effects on how fairly people are treated. Use 'noneconomic' when you want the broad contrast with market or money concerns, not one specific kind of concern.

nonfinancial ↗social ↗cultural ↗moral ↗

Common collocations

Nouns

Adverbs

  • mainly noneconomic
  • purely noneconomic
  • largely noneconomic

Phrases

  • noneconomic reasons for moving
  • noneconomic effects on a town
  • noneconomic value of a forest

Prepositions

  • for noneconomic reasons
  • noneconomic effects on
  • noneconomic value of

Etymology

GreekLatinFrenchEnglish

Formed in English from the negative prefix 'non-' and the adjective 'economic'. 'Economic' came into English through French and Latin forms that go back to Greek words about managing a household. As 'economic' developed the modern meaning 'relating to trade, industry, and money', 'noneconomic' came to mean 'not connected with those areas'.

First known use

1856

1856, in the meaning defined above