beggar-thy-neighbor

adjective

beg·​gar-thy-neigh·​bor ˈbe-gər-ˌṯẖī-ˈnā-bər How to pronounce beggar-thy-neighbor (audio)
: relating to or being an action or policy that produces gains for one group at the expense of another
followed beggar-thy-neighbor policies in imposing taxes

Examples of beggar-thy-neighbor 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.
These new trade rules must distinguish countries that abide by high labor and environmental standards and refrain from anticompetitive, beggar-thy-neighbor policies from countries that don’t. Wally Adeyemo, Foreign Affairs, 19 Aug. 2025 Countries resorted to competitive devaluations, what historians labelled beggar-thy-neighbor policies. Steve Forbes, Forbes.com, 15 July 2025 But beggar-thy-neighbor tariffs and a scrambled supply chain make no one wealthier. Matthew Continetti, National Review, 22 Feb. 2025 But there are long-term costs, and not simply in the risk of beggar-thy-neighbor trade policies of the kind that deepened the Great Depression. Bret Stephens, The Mercury News, 6 Feb. 2025 Yet the timing complicates any move by China to go the beggar-thy-neighbor route. William Pesek, Forbes, 8 Jan. 2025

Word History

First Known Use

1945, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of beggar-thy-neighbor was in 1945

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Cite this Entry

“Beggar-thy-neighbor.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/beggar-thy-neighbor. Accessed 10 Sep. 2025.

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