capital-intensive

adjective

cap·​i·​tal-in·​ten·​sive ˈka-pə-tᵊl- in-ˈten(t)-siv How to pronounce capital-intensive (audio)
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
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Their energy supplies and huge sovereign wealth funds help underwrite America’s competitive edge over China in energy and capital-intensive industries of the future—AI, cloud computing, and the mining and processing of rare-earth minerals. Firas Maksad, Time, 25 Sep. 2025 The platform model transforms what were once capital-intensive AI capabilities into pay-as-you-go services. Sajal Singh, Forbes.com, 18 Sep. 2025 As the Biden administration's CHIPS Act revealed, one-time, supply-side incentives are insufficient to support domestic production at scale, especially in the capital-intensive and complex supply chains that fuel downstream growth. Joel Thayer, MSNBC Newsweek, 16 Sep. 2025 It’s also helped that Oracle’s core database and software businesses are logging fairly steady growth, giving it the cash to continue the capital-intensive process of building out more data center capacity. Clare Duffy, CNN Money, 16 Sep. 2025 See All Example Sentences for capital-intensive

Word History

First Known Use

1959, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of capital-intensive was in 1959

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Cite this Entry

“Capital-intensive.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/capital-intensive. Accessed 8 Oct. 2025.

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