economic warfare

noun

The strategic use of economic measures (such as sanctions, embargoes, tariffs, or the freezing of assets) to weaken the economy of another state, often to achieve political or military objectives.

“The government shifted from kinetic operations to economic warfare to pressure the regime without deploying troops.”

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Meanings

nouneconomic warfare (uncountable)
  1. uncountableeconomicsThe strategic use of economic measures (such as sanctions, embargoes, tariffs, or the freezing of assets) to weaken the economy of another state, often to achieve political or military objectives.

    The government shifted from kinetic operations to economic warfare to pressure the regime without deploying troops.

    1 more example

    Some of Mr. Trump’s other advisers shared similar views in private, dismissing warnings that — the second time around — Iran might wage economic warfare by closing shipping lanes carrying roughly 20 percent of the world’s oil supply.

    2026 March 11, Mark Mazzetti, Tyler Pager, Edward Wong, “How Trump and His Advisers Miscalculated Iran’s Response to War”, in The New York Times, →ISSN, archived from the original on 11 Mar 2026

Origin

From economic + warfare.

Full word history & related roots →

Translations

Chinese Mandarin 經濟戰 /经济战, 经济战
  • 經濟戰 /经济战use of economic measures to weaken another state
  • 经济战 (jīngjìzhàn)use of economic measures to weaken another state
Dutch economische oorlogsvoering
  • economische oorlogsvoeringuse of economic measures to weaken another state
Finnish taloudellinen sodankäynti
  • taloudellinen sodankäyntiuse of economic measures to weaken another state
French guerre économique
  • guerre économiqueuse of economic measures to weaken another state
German Wirtschaftskrieg
  • Wirtschaftskrieguse of economic measures to weaken another state
Japanese 経済戦
  • 経済戦 (keizaisen)use of economic measures to weaken another state
Russian экономи́ческая война́
  • экономи́ческая война́ (ekonomíčeskaja vojná)use of economic measures to weaken another state
Spanish guerra económica
  • guerra económicause of economic measures to weaken another state
Swedish ekonomisk krigföring
  • ekonomisk krigföringuse of economic measures to weaken another state
Cite this entry
APA

economic warfare. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 5, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/economic%20warfare

MLA

“economic warfare.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/economic%20warfare. Accessed November 5, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “economic warfare,” accessed November 5, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/economic%20warfare.

Source: economic warfare on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.