dollarization

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/dɑləɹɪˈzeɪ̯ʃɪn/

noun

The process of a country, officially, or its residents, unofficially, adopting the US dollar or other foreign currency in parallel to or instead of the domestic currency.

UncommonScrabble 23

Meanings

noundollarization (uncountable)

alternative dollarisation

  1. uncountableeconomicsThe process of a country, officially, or its residents, unofficially, adopting the US dollar or other foreign currency in parallel to or instead of the domestic currency.

    But dollarization is not a panacea for Argentina’s crisis-stricken economy, analysts say.

    2023 October 23, Anna Cooban, “Javier Milei wants Argentina to swap the peso for the US dollar. Here’s what that could mean”, in CNN Business
    2 more examples

    “Many emerging-market economies have tried a number of technical devices: the fixed rate peg, varieties of crawling peg, currency boards and even dollarization,” Mr. Greenspan said in a recent speech. “The success has been mixed. Where successful, they have been backed by sound policies.”

    1999 January 2, Joseph Kahn, quoting Alan Greenspan, “Era May End For Floating Currencies”, in The New York Times, →ISSN, archived from the original on 15 Sep 2017

    Making dollarisation work requires structural reform, something President Noboa has failed to achieve. Ecuador's businesses are struggling against high costs. The public finances face a shortfall. A new agreement with the IMF has proved elusive. Neither candidate says he would scrap the dollar, but neither says much about reform.

    2002 October 26, “New faces of Andean politics”, in The Economist, U.S. edition

    Antonyms: dedollarization

Synonyms & antonyms

nounThe process of a country, officially, or its residents, unofficially, adopting the US dollar or other foreign currency in parallel to or instead of the domestic currency.

Origin

  1. Proto-Germanic*dalą
  2. Proto-West Germanic*dal
  3. Old High Germantal
  4. Middle High Germantal
  5. GermanTal
  6. GermanTaler
  7. Middle Low Germandāler
  8. Dutchdaler
  9. Englishdollar
  10. Englishdollarize
  11. Englishdollarization

From dollarize + -ation.

Full word history & related roots →

Translations

Arabic دَوْلَرَة
  • دَوْلَرَة (dawlara)the process of a country adopting the US dollar as its primary currency
Catalan dolarització
  • dolaritzacióthe process of a country adopting the US dollar as its primary currency
Chinese Mandarin 美元化
  • 美元化 (měiyuánhuà)the process of a country adopting the US dollar as its primary currency
Finnish dollarisaatio, dollariin siirtyminen
  • dollarisaatiothe process of a country adopting the US dollar as its primary currency
  • dollariin siirtyminenthe process of a country adopting the US dollar as its primary currency
French dollarisation
  • dollarisationthe process of a country adopting the US dollar as its primary currency
German Dollarisierung
  • Dollarisierungthe process of a country adopting the US dollar as its primary currency
Polish dolaryzacja
  • dolaryzacjathe process of a country adopting the US dollar as its primary currency
Portuguese dolarização
  • dolarizaçãothe process of a country adopting the US dollar as its primary currency
Spanish dolarización
  • dolarizaciónthe process of a country adopting the US dollar as its primary currency
Swedish dollarisering
  • dollariseringthe process of a country adopting the US dollar as its primary currency
Vietnamese đô la hoá
  • đô la hoáthe process of a country adopting the US dollar as its primary currency
Cite this entry
APA

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

MLA

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

Chicago

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

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