as in optional
subject to one's freedom of choice
discretionary spending on luxuries dropped dramatically last year
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Recent Examples of discretionary
Tourism is also a huge industry for New York and could suffer devastating losses as potential travelers cut back on discretionary spending worldwide.
—
Dave Goldiner, New York Daily News, 7 Apr. 2025
Until recently, the City of Boston only spent .4% of its discretionary budget with Black businesses.
—Ed Gaskin, Boston Herald, 6 Apr. 2025
Property stocks are sensitive to consumers’ discretionary spending levels.
—Pia Singh, CNBC, 4 Apr. 2025
Sports tickets, streaming subscriptions and betting are forms of consumer discretionary spending, which typically shrinks in favor of consumer staples, like groceries, when costs rise.
—Brendan Coffey, Sportico.com, 4 Apr. 2025
See All Example Sentences for discretionary
Dave Goldiner, New York Daily News, 7 Apr. 2025
Until recently, the City of Boston only spent .4% of its discretionary budget with Black businesses.
—Ed Gaskin, Boston Herald, 6 Apr. 2025
Property stocks are sensitive to consumers’ discretionary spending levels.
—Pia Singh, CNBC, 4 Apr. 2025
Sports tickets, streaming subscriptions and betting are forms of consumer discretionary spending, which typically shrinks in favor of consumer staples, like groceries, when costs rise.
—Brendan Coffey, Sportico.com, 4 Apr. 2025
See All Example Sentences for discretionary
Cite this Entry
“Discretionary.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/discretionary. Accessed 16 Apr. 2025.
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