PIIIGS

P3I1I1I1G2S1

proper noun

Portugal, Italy, Ireland, Iceland, Greece and Spain, grouped on the basis of their large debts during the European sovereign debt crisis.

Scrabble 9
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Meanings

proper noun
  1. economicsPortugal, Italy, Ireland, Iceland, Greece and Spain, grouped on the basis of their large debts during the European sovereign debt crisis.

    PIGS, PIIGS or PIIIGS – They All Smell Like Bacon

    2010 April 11, Lorimer Wilson, “Will Sovereign Debt Tsunami Drown All the PIIIGS and Then the US and UK?”, in MunKnee
    2 more examples

    European Union economic planners are chewing their fingernails over looming defaults in Portugal, Ireland, Iceland, Italy, Greece and Spain. PIIIGS are part of an economic block that could paralyze the entire "Planet Money" if the hemorrhage is not dealt with.

    2011 October 17, Vic Hummert, “Movie sheds light on Wall Street protests”, in The Advertiser

    The so-called PIIIGS of Europe (Portugal, Italy, Ireland, Iceland, Greece and Spain) are all in the bottom third.

    2011, TJ Augustine, A Maasry, D Sobo, Sovereign Fiscal Responsibility Index 2011, Stanford University
Cite this entry
APA

PIIIGS. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/PIIIGS

MLA

“PIIIGS.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/PIIIGS. Accessed November 3, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “PIIIGS,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/PIIIGS.

Source: PIIIGS on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.