opportunity cost

noun

: the added cost of using resources (as for production or speculative investment) that is the difference between the actual value resulting from such use and that of an alternative (such as another use of the same resources or an investment of equal risk but greater return)

Examples of opportunity cost in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

First, categorize tech debt into principal, interest, liabilities and opportunity cost. —Daniel Kendzior, Fortune, 31 Oct. 2025

The station’s dizzying sticker price has meant not just balance sheet costs but opportunity costs. —Jeffrey Kluger, Time, 31 Oct. 2025

So, the opportunity cost involved for something like Skyscraper Live is almost zero. —Frederick Dreier, Outside, 29 Oct. 2025

This includes the compromise, publication, theft and/or unauthorized use of their personal data, out-of-pocket costs associated with prevention, detection, recovery and remediation from identity theft or fraud, lost opportunity costs and lost wages and time. —Lauren Giella, MSNBC Newsweek, 24 Oct. 2025

Word History

First Known Use

1894, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for opportunity cost

• accost
• crisscrossed
• defrost
• embossed
• exhaust
• recrossed
• uncrossed
• bossed
• crossed
• dost
• glossed
• lost

Legal Definition

opportunity cost

noun

op·​por·​tu·​ni·​ty cost

: the cost of making an investment that is the difference between the return on one investment and the return on an alternative