virtuous circle

noun

variants or virtuous cycle

: a chain of events in which one desirable occurrence leads to another which further promotes the first occurrence and so on resulting in a continuous process of improvement

But the economy is depressed, in large part, because of the housing bust, which immediately suggests the possibility of a virtuous circle: an improving economy leads to a surge in home purchases, which leads to more construction, which strengthens the economy further, and so on.

—Paul Krugman

Examples of virtuous circle in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Every client touchpoint can build a virtuous circle of client engagement, satisfaction and retention—which also contributes to employee engagement, satisfaction and retention. —Austin Irabor, Forbes, 3 Sep. 2024

This leads to a virtuous circle for Amazon and a vicious cycle for the dwindling margins of the drug store world. —Jim Cramer, CNBC, 4 Aug. 2024

This change affects not only Alex but the people around him in a virtuous circle that is the opposite of a shame spiral. —Gayle Forman, Peoplemag, 18 July 2024

But if there is no virtuous circle, there will be a vicious one. —Fintan O’Toole, Foreign Affairs, 5 July 2024

Word History

First Known Use

1903, in the meaning defined above