stagflation
noun
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Stagflation is a portmanteau, that is, a word that blends two others (in this case, "stagnation" and "inflation"). The first documented use of the word appeared in 1965 in the writing of British politician Iain Macleod, who wrote, "We now have the worst of both worlds - not just inflation on the one side or stagnation on the other, but both of them together. We have a sort of 'stagflation' situation." Macleod is often credited with coining the term, and his linguistic invention was quickly embraced by economists in the United States, who used it to refer to the period of economic sluggishness and high inflation that affected the country in the 1970s.
Examples of stagflation in a Sentence
Jim Cramer, CNBC, 2 Mar. 2025
Last week, a Bank of America survey of global fund managers found those expecting stagflation—defined by the bank as below-trend growth and above-trend inflation—to hit the U.S. economy within the next year has climbed to a seven-month high.
—Billy Bambrough, Forbes, 25 Feb. 2025
And all of the talk back then was stagflation, when, not if, is a recession going to arrive.
—CBS News, 29 Dec. 2024
Related article Americans may have to actually brace for stagflation with Trump tariffs
Meanwhile, the Producer Price Index, which captures prices at the factory gate, jumped 0.4% on a monthly basis and 3% for the 12 months ended in November, reflecting a sharp pick-up from October.
—Bryan Mena, CNN, 18 Dec. 2024
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Cite this Entry
“Stagflation.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/stagflation. Accessed 9 Mar. 2025.
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