"sunk cost" meaning in English

See sunk cost in All languages combined, or Wiktionary

Noun

Forms: sunk costs [plural]
Head templates: {{en-noun}} sunk cost (plural sunk costs)
  1. (economics) A cost that has already been incurred and which cannot be recovered to any significant degree. Wikipedia link: sunk cost Categories (topical): Economics Translations (already incurred costs): 沉沒成本 /沉没成本 (chénmò chéngběn) (Chinese Mandarin), utopené náklady [masculine, plural] (Czech), upotettu kustannus (Finnish), coût irrécupérable [masculine] (French), versunkene Kosten [plural] (German), elsüllyedt költség (Hungarian), 埋没費用 (Japanese), 매몰비용 (maemolbiyong) (Korean), koszt utopiony [masculine] (Polish), невозвра́тная затра́та (nevozvrátnaja zatráta) [feminine] (Russian), nepovratan trošak (Serbo-Croatian), costo hundido [masculine] (Spanish), costo sumergido [masculine] (Spanish), costo perdido [masculine] (Spanish), costo retrospectivo [masculine] (Spanish)

Inflected forms

{
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "sunk costs",
      "tags": [
        "plural"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {},
      "expansion": "sunk cost (plural sunk costs)",
      "name": "en-noun"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "noun",
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "English entries with incorrect language header",
          "parents": [
            "Entries with incorrect language header",
            "Entry maintenance"
          ],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "English terms with collocations",
          "parents": [
            "Terms with collocations",
            "Entry maintenance"
          ],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Entries with translation boxes",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Mandarin terms with redundant transliterations",
          "parents": [
            "Terms with redundant transliterations",
            "Entry maintenance"
          ],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Pages with 1 entry",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Pages with entries",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Terms with Czech translations",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Terms with Finnish translations",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Terms with French translations",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Terms with German translations",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Terms with Hungarian translations",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Terms with Japanese translations",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Terms with Korean translations",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Terms with Mandarin translations",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Terms with Polish translations",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Terms with Russian translations",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Terms with Serbo-Croatian translations",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Terms with Spanish translations",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "kind": "topical",
          "langcode": "en",
          "name": "Economics",
          "orig": "en:Economics",
          "parents": [
            "Social sciences",
            "Sciences",
            "Society",
            "All topics",
            "Fundamental"
          ],
          "source": "w"
        }
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "text": "sunk costs fallacy",
          "type": "example"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "A cost that has already been incurred and which cannot be recovered to any significant degree."
      ],
      "id": "en-sunk_cost-en-noun-rP6U3Pm6",
      "links": [
        [
          "economics",
          "economics"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(economics) A cost that has already been incurred and which cannot be recovered to any significant degree."
      ],
      "topics": [
        "economics",
        "sciences"
      ],
      "translations": [
        {
          "code": "cmn",
          "lang": "Chinese Mandarin",
          "roman": "chénmò chéngběn",
          "sense": "already incurred costs",
          "word": "沉沒成本 /沉没成本"
        },
        {
          "code": "cs",
          "lang": "Czech",
          "sense": "already incurred costs",
          "tags": [
            "masculine",
            "plural"
          ],
          "word": "utopené náklady"
        },
        {
          "code": "fi",
          "lang": "Finnish",
          "sense": "already incurred costs",
          "word": "upotettu kustannus"
        },
        {
          "code": "fr",
          "lang": "French",
          "sense": "already incurred costs",
          "tags": [
            "masculine"
          ],
          "word": "coût irrécupérable"
        },
        {
          "code": "de",
          "lang": "German",
          "sense": "already incurred costs",
          "tags": [
            "plural"
          ],
          "word": "versunkene Kosten"
        },
        {
          "code": "hu",
          "lang": "Hungarian",
          "sense": "already incurred costs",
          "word": "elsüllyedt költség"
        },
        {
          "code": "ja",
          "lang": "Japanese",
          "sense": "already incurred costs",
          "word": "埋没費用"
        },
        {
          "code": "ko",
          "lang": "Korean",
          "roman": "maemolbiyong",
          "sense": "already incurred costs",
          "word": "매몰비용"
        },
        {
          "code": "pl",
          "lang": "Polish",
          "sense": "already incurred costs",
          "tags": [
            "masculine"
          ],
          "word": "koszt utopiony"
        },
        {
          "code": "ru",
          "lang": "Russian",
          "roman": "nevozvrátnaja zatráta",
          "sense": "already incurred costs",
          "tags": [
            "feminine"
          ],
          "word": "невозвра́тная затра́та"
        },
        {
          "code": "sh",
          "lang": "Serbo-Croatian",
          "sense": "already incurred costs",
          "word": "nepovratan trošak"
        },
        {
          "code": "es",
          "lang": "Spanish",
          "sense": "already incurred costs",
          "tags": [
            "masculine"
          ],
          "word": "costo hundido"
        },
        {
          "code": "es",
          "lang": "Spanish",
          "sense": "already incurred costs",
          "tags": [
            "masculine"
          ],
          "word": "costo sumergido"
        },
        {
          "code": "es",
          "lang": "Spanish",
          "sense": "already incurred costs",
          "tags": [
            "masculine"
          ],
          "word": "costo perdido"
        },
        {
          "code": "es",
          "lang": "Spanish",
          "sense": "already incurred costs",
          "tags": [
            "masculine"
          ],
          "word": "costo retrospectivo"
        }
      ],
      "wikipedia": [
        "sunk cost"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "word": "sunk cost"
}
{
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "sunk costs",
      "tags": [
        "plural"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {},
      "expansion": "sunk cost (plural sunk costs)",
      "name": "en-noun"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "noun",
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        "English countable nouns",
        "English entries with incorrect language header",
        "English lemmas",
        "English multiword terms",
        "English nouns",
        "English terms with collocations",
        "Entries with translation boxes",
        "Mandarin terms with redundant transliterations",
        "Pages with 1 entry",
        "Pages with entries",
        "Terms with Czech translations",
        "Terms with Finnish translations",
        "Terms with French translations",
        "Terms with German translations",
        "Terms with Hungarian translations",
        "Terms with Japanese translations",
        "Terms with Korean translations",
        "Terms with Mandarin translations",
        "Terms with Polish translations",
        "Terms with Russian translations",
        "Terms with Serbo-Croatian translations",
        "Terms with Spanish translations",
        "en:Economics"
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "text": "sunk costs fallacy",
          "type": "example"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "A cost that has already been incurred and which cannot be recovered to any significant degree."
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "economics",
          "economics"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(economics) A cost that has already been incurred and which cannot be recovered to any significant degree."
      ],
      "topics": [
        "economics",
        "sciences"
      ],
      "wikipedia": [
        "sunk cost"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "translations": [
    {
      "code": "cmn",
      "lang": "Chinese Mandarin",
      "roman": "chénmò chéngběn",
      "sense": "already incurred costs",
      "word": "沉沒成本 /沉没成本"
    },
    {
      "code": "cs",
      "lang": "Czech",
      "sense": "already incurred costs",
      "tags": [
        "masculine",
        "plural"
      ],
      "word": "utopené náklady"
    },
    {
      "code": "fi",
      "lang": "Finnish",
      "sense": "already incurred costs",
      "word": "upotettu kustannus"
    },
    {
      "code": "fr",
      "lang": "French",
      "sense": "already incurred costs",
      "tags": [
        "masculine"
      ],
      "word": "coût irrécupérable"
    },
    {
      "code": "de",
      "lang": "German",
      "sense": "already incurred costs",
      "tags": [
        "plural"
      ],
      "word": "versunkene Kosten"
    },
    {
      "code": "hu",
      "lang": "Hungarian",
      "sense": "already incurred costs",
      "word": "elsüllyedt költség"
    },
    {
      "code": "ja",
      "lang": "Japanese",
      "sense": "already incurred costs",
      "word": "埋没費用"
    },
    {
      "code": "ko",
      "lang": "Korean",
      "roman": "maemolbiyong",
      "sense": "already incurred costs",
      "word": "매몰비용"
    },
    {
      "code": "pl",
      "lang": "Polish",
      "sense": "already incurred costs",
      "tags": [
        "masculine"
      ],
      "word": "koszt utopiony"
    },
    {
      "code": "ru",
      "lang": "Russian",
      "roman": "nevozvrátnaja zatráta",
      "sense": "already incurred costs",
      "tags": [
        "feminine"
      ],
      "word": "невозвра́тная затра́та"
    },
    {
      "code": "sh",
      "lang": "Serbo-Croatian",
      "sense": "already incurred costs",
      "word": "nepovratan trošak"
    },
    {
      "code": "es",
      "lang": "Spanish",
      "sense": "already incurred costs",
      "tags": [
        "masculine"
      ],
      "word": "costo hundido"
    },
    {
      "code": "es",
      "lang": "Spanish",
      "sense": "already incurred costs",
      "tags": [
        "masculine"
      ],
      "word": "costo sumergido"
    },
    {
      "code": "es",
      "lang": "Spanish",
      "sense": "already incurred costs",
      "tags": [
        "masculine"
      ],
      "word": "costo perdido"
    },
    {
      "code": "es",
      "lang": "Spanish",
      "sense": "already incurred costs",
      "tags": [
        "masculine"
      ],
      "word": "costo retrospectivo"
    }
  ],
  "word": "sunk cost"
}

Download raw JSONL data for sunk cost meaning in English (3.2kB)


This page is a part of the kaikki.org machine-readable English dictionary. This dictionary is based on structured data extracted on 2025-01-08 from the enwiktionary dump dated 2025-01-01 using wiktextract (9a96ef4 and 4ed51a5). The data shown on this site has been post-processed and various details (e.g., extra categories) removed, some information disambiguated, and additional data merged from other sources. See the raw data download page for the unprocessed wiktextract data.

If you use this data in academic research, please cite Tatu Ylonen: Wiktextract: Wiktionary as Machine-Readable Structured Data, Proceedings of the 13th Conference on Language Resources and Evaluation (LREC), pp. 1317-1325, Marseille, 20-25 June 2022. Linking to the relevant page(s) under https://kaikki.org would also be greatly appreciated.