at the expense of

idiom

: in a way that harms (something or someone)
Malls flourished at the expense of small stores downtown.
He argues that the tax cut will benefit the rich at the expense of the poor.

Examples of at the expense of in a Sentence

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The pursuit of short-term profit at the expense of the scene’s long-term health is self-defeating. Andrew Bird, Baltimore Sun, 28 Dec. 2024 An argument pitting some of President-elect Donald Trump’s biggest supporters against each other has rocked MAGA world in recent days over whether his incoming administration should allow more highly skilled immigrant labor to come to the United States at the expense of American workers. Josh Meyer, USA TODAY, 28 Dec. 2024 In addition to its face-off with Musk, OpenAI has been dealing with an outflow of high-level talent, due in part to concerns that the company has focused on taking commercial products to market at the expense of safety. Hayden Field, CNBC, 27 Dec. 2024 For decades, the leaders of both parties had tolerated mind-boggling levels of corruption, waste, and administrative bloat, enabling a culture of profligacy that subsidized the federal bureaucracy and crony capitalists at the expense of hard-working American taxpayers. Michael Glassner and John Pence, Newsweek, 23 Dec. 2024 See all Example Sentences for at the expense of 

Dictionary Entries Near at the expense of

Cite this Entry

“At the expense of.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/at%20the%20expense%20of. Accessed 6 Jan. 2025.

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