How to Use opportunity cost in a Sentence

opportunity cost

noun
  • The Sixers would need to weigh the opportunity cost of that, though.
    Bryan Toporek, Forbes, 14 May 2022
  • There is a high opportunity cost to keep units off the market.
    Phillip Molnar, San Diego Union-Tribune, 19 Feb. 2021
  • So, there can be a huge opportunity cost in trying to time the market.
    Michelle Singletary, Washington Post, 3 Aug. 2020
  • In other words, the opportunity cost of sitting on your hands was less than half as much.
    Spencer Jakab, WSJ, 22 May 2018
  • In such a case, the opportunity cost of not buying quickly is great.
    Rohit Arora, Forbes, 1 Aug. 2022
  • The problem with taking a quarterback in the first few rounds is the opportunity cost.
    Adam Ronis, SI.com, 12 Aug. 2019
  • The opportunity cost is huge, not to mention the cost to the presidency.
    Gloria Borger, CNN, 23 Sep. 2021
  • The opportunity cost could go to projects that make millions of dollars.
    Ej Dickson, Rolling Stone, 19 Apr. 2022
  • Still, almost all agreed there has been at least a stiff opportunity cost.
    Robert T. Garrett, Dallas News, 11 Aug. 2019
  • And then there is the opportunity cost of not being able to put those resources to another use.
    Mark Humphery-Jenner, Slate Magazine, 27 Feb. 2017
  • Granted, there’s opportunity cost with any move, but the same is true with standing pat.
    David Murphy, Philly.com, 13 Mar. 2018
  • MacAskill struggles with the opportunity cost of his time.
    Gideon Lewis-Kraus, The New Yorker, 8 Aug. 2022
  • Chances were there to seize a two-score lead early - those missed opportunities cost it dearly.
    Nick Moyle, Houston Chronicle, 7 Sep. 2019
  • Chances were there to seize a two-score lead early — those missed opportunities cost them dearly.
    Nick Moyle, ExpressNews.com, 7 Sep. 2019
  • And there is also an opportunity cost for what else could be done with that money over the time of ownership.
    Anna Bahney, CNN, 7 Jan. 2020
  • The opportunity cost of worrying about the wrong things.
    Keith Kloor, Discover Magazine, 3 June 2011
  • Where the opportunity cost of saying yes is higher than the benefit of the event itself.
    Jodie Cook, Forbes, 18 Apr. 2022
  • To them, ignoring opportunity cost—as the 3 percenters do—is a much worse sin.
    James Broughel, Forbes, 27 Sep. 2021
  • The idea that everything should be looked at as an opportunity cost?
    Jane Thier, Fortune, 30 Oct. 2023
  • There’s a monetary and opportunity cost to keeping Toews around, and the Hawks wouldn’t pay it just for nostalgia’s sake.
    Phil Thompson, Chicago Tribune, 27 Apr. 2022
  • Not chopping down trees would have a large opportunity cost.
    The Economist, 11 June 2020
  • Some would argue that the opportunity cost of being out of the market is declining.
    Garth Friesen, Forbes, 14 Sep. 2021
  • At the halfway point in the cleanse, my weekly goal was to align my spending with my values by looking at the opportunity cost for my expenses.
    Emily Pandise, NBC News, 10 Nov. 2019
  • In this case, choosing to pay off the sum of your auto loan might result in an opportunity cost relating to your other debts.
    Jim Slavik, Car and Driver, 4 Apr. 2023
  • And then there’s the simple opportunity cost that comes with having to figure dogs into your every plan.
    Wes Siler, Outside Online, 3 Feb. 2022
  • In normal times, that money might have earned more interest elsewhere, but with rates at zero, the opportunity cost of a SPAC is low.
    James MacKintosh, WSJ, 17 Oct. 2020
  • But all those sheepskins have a steep opportunity cost.
    Jason Delisle, National Review, 15 Aug. 2019
  • Overall, one of the most important things to consider with this method is the opportunity cost of making more payments per year.
    Sydney Lake, Fortune, 25 Oct. 2023
  • That cost falls on the conscripts, who aren’t compensated fairly for the risks and opportunity costs of serving in the military.
    David R. Henderson, WSJ, 13 Jan. 2019
  • But the huge scale of opportunity costs already endured offers some hints.
    Patrick Brzeski, The Hollywood Reporter, 12 Feb. 2020

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'opportunity cost.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

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