capital-intensive

adjective

cap·​i·​tal-in·​ten·​sive ˈka-pə-tᵊl- in-ˈten(t)-siv 

ˈkap-tᵊl-

: having a high capital cost per unit of output

especially : requiring greater expenditure in the form of capital than of labor

Examples of capital-intensive in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Currently, development is too capital-intensive; soft costs, permits and fees often reach 30% of project budgets, pricing out everyone but institutional developers. —David Garrick, San Diego Union-Tribune, 7 May 2026

This is due to factors including capital-intensive development, long timelines for R&D, high complexity of regulations and safety, human resource requirements, and high technical failure rates. —Anis Uzzaman, Fortune, 6 May 2026

Bankruptcies are common in the airline industry, which is a capital-intensive business. —Chris Isidore, CNN Money, 2 May 2026

Manufacturing memory chips, by contrast, is extraordinarily capital-intensive; requires high precision, efficiency and production line utilization; and is dominated by a few incumbent suppliers. —Vidya Mani, The Conversation, 1 May 2026

Word History

First Known Use

1959, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for capital-intensive

• antihypertensive
• apprehensive
• coextensive
• comprehensive
• hypertensive
• hypotensive
• inexpensive
• inoffensive
• normotensive
• counteroffensive
• defensive
• expensive