animal spirits

plural noun

1

sometimes animal spirit obsolete : the nervous energy that is the source of physical sensation and movement

2

: vivacity arising from physical health and energy

3

in Keynesian economic theory : emotional feelings and desires (such as an optimistic willingness to take positive action) that influence the economic behavior of consumers and investors

If you ask how much consumers will consume and investors invest over the next few months, the answer is determined largely by feelings—what John Maynard Keynes called "animal spirits." If frightened people decide not to spend, their nervousness can translate into a depressed economy.

—Paul Krugman

Examples of animal spirits in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

More from Personal Finance: The 2025-26 FAFSA is open ahead of schedule What ‘animal spirits’ mean for your investing How to pay 0% capital gains taxes on bitcoin Karoline Leavitt, a spokeswoman for the Trump-Vance transition, said the president-elect would follow through with his pledge. —Greg Iacurci, CNBC, 20 Nov. 2024

Astrology is gaining steam as a means of intuiting the market’s animal spirits. —Melvin Backman, Quartz, 13 Nov. 2024

The new budget, the government hopes, will set the stage for the central bank to slash interest rates, with the aim of rekindling the economy’s animal spirits and boosting growth. —Milan Vaishnav, Foreign Affairs, 8 Mar. 2016

The idea that the press conference was deliberately done to cool animal spirits is ridiculous, IMO. —Brendan Ahern, Forbes, 9 Oct. 2024

Word History

First Known Use

15th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1