Copyright © Philip M. Parker, INSEAD. Terms of Use.

Definition: Cost Of Living |
Cost Of LivingNoun1. Average cost of basic necessities of life (as food and shelter and clothing); "a rise in the cost of living reflects the rate of inflation". Source: WordNet 1.7.1 Copyright © 2001 by Princeton University. All rights reserved. |
| Domain | Definition |
Labor | A Cost of Living Index measures differences in the price of goods and services, and allows for substitutions to other items as prices change. A Consumer Price Index measures a price change for a constant market basket of goods and services from one period to the next within the same city (or in the Nation). The CPI is not a true cost of living index and should not be used for place to place comparisons. (references) |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |
| The following table is compiled from various sources, across various languages. When English abbreviations or acronyms come from a non-English source, this is noted. | |||
| Entry | Source | Expression | Field |
| COLA | English | Cost of living adjustment | Statistics, Labor |
Source: compiled by the editor, based on several corpora (additional references). | |||
Synonym: Cost Of LivingSynonym: Cost & standard of living. (additional references) |
Crosswords: Cost Of Living |
| English words defined with "cost of living": escalator, escalator clause. (references) |
| Specialty definitions using "cost of living": cost of living adjustment, cost of living index, cost-of-living-adjustment ♦ DELMONICO ♦ hourly earnings ♦ index of prices for cost of living, indexed loan ♦ living index, loan tied to an index. (references) |
| Domain | Usage | |
Clever | Despite the high cost of living, it remains popular. (references; author: unknown) It is hard to understand how a cemetery raised its burial cost and blamed it on the cost of living. (references; author: unknown) | |
Movie/TV Titles | The High Cost of Living (1917) | |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | ||
| Domain | Title | ||
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Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |||
| Thumbnail | Description & Credit | Thumbnail | Description & Credit |
![]() | Aladdin and the wonderful lamp. The genii: What are my lord's commands? Aladdin: Reduce the cost of living!. Credit: Library of Congress. | ![]() | West Danville, Vermont. Mr. Hasings in his general store, figuring up, says, "You can't carry on a business, especially nowadays, without a lot of book work. But whether it is for income tax or making up price lists for cost of living comodities, it is al. Credit: Library of Congress. |
Source: pictures compiled by the editor from various references; see picture credits. | |||
| Subject | Topic | Quote |
Business | It is said that the cost of living is relatively high in Argentina compared to salaries. (references) | |
The cost of living in most European destinations is on average as high as in Argentina, whereas in the U.S. it is often lower. (references) | ||
Economic History | Sri Lanka | Recent trade union actions have also revolved around the rising cost of living. (references) |
Djibouti | Due to the high cost of living, wage levels in Djibouti are among the highest in the region. (references) | |
Cyprus | The current economy-wide practice of increasing the bi-annual Cost of Living Allowance (COLA) for employees is a contentious issue between unions and employers. (references) | |
Political Economy | NETHERLANDS | The legally-mandated minimum wage is subject to a semi-annual cost of living adjustment. (references) |
Syria | Wage and benefits increases generally have not kept pace with cost of living increases, although inflation has been minimal in recent years. (references) | |
Trade | Jamaica | Exceptions have been made in special circumstances where cost of living considerations or other sensitivities dictate the assessment of special rates including special low rates or even zero rates of duty. (references) |
Travel | Zimbabwe | Office and residential accommodations are excellent, and the cost of living, while rising, remains lower than most world capitals. (references) |
Worker Rights | Israel and the occupied territories | The minimum wage is calculated periodically and adjusted for cost of living increases. (references) |
Suriname | Including a cost of living allowance, the lowest wage for civil servants is about $100 (Sf244,000) per month. (references) | |
Source: compiled by the editor from ICON Group International, Inc.; see credits. | ||
| Speaker | Term | Phrase(s) |
Gerald Ford | 1974-1977 | To hold down the cost of living, we must hold down the cost of government. |
Ronald Reagan | 1981-1989 | A decade of rampant inflation drained its reserves as we tried to protect beneficiaries from the spiraling cost of living. |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references. | ||
Expressions using "cost of living": cost of living adjustment ♦ cost of living allowance ♦ cost of living bonus ♦ cost of living index ♦ high cost of living ♦ index of prices for cost of living ♦ the cost of living. Additional references. | |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. |
| The following statistics estimate the number of searches per day across the major English-language search engines as identified by various trade publications. Hyperlinks lead to commercial use of the expression at Amazon.com. |
| Language | Translations for "cost of living"; alternative meanings/domain in parentheses. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Albanian | kostoja e jetesës. (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Arabic | تقييم قائمة نفقات (cost of living index), تقدير لتكاليف الحياة (cost of living allowance), بدل غلاء المعيشة (cost of living allowance). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Bulgarian | жизнен стандарт (cost of living allowance). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Danish | leveomkostninger (living costs). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Dutch | kosten van levensonderhoud (living costs, upkeep). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Finnish | elinkustannukset. (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
French | coût de la vie (cost of living allowance). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
German | Lebenshaltungskosten (living costs). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Greek | κόστος ζωής (living costs). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Hebrew | מ"" יוקר "מחי" (cost of living index), תוספת יוקר (cost of living allowance). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Hungarian | segély (aid, assistance, benefit, cost of living allowance, grant, help, redress, relief, subsidy, support), pénztámogatás (cost of living allowance), létfenntartási költségindex (cost of living index). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Italian | costo della vita (living costs). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Japanese Kanji | "計費指数 (cost of living index), 暮らしに響く (to affect the cost of living), 最低"活費 (minimum cost of living). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Japanese Katakana | くらしにひびく (to affect the cost of living), さいていせいかつひ (minimum cost of living), せいけいひしすう (cost of living index). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Pig Latin | ostcay ofay ivinglay custo de vida, valor estimado dos bens e dos serviços com base na comparação dos rendimentos e considerado durante um dado período (living costs). (various references) costul vieţii (the cost of living). (various references) прожиточный минимум (living wage). (various references) nadoknada za troškove života (cost of living allowance). (various references) costo de la vida (living costs), coste de vida. (various references) levnadskostnader (living costs). (various references) pahalılık zammı (cost of living allowance), hayat pahalılığı göstergesi (cost of living index), geçim indeksi (cost of living index). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Scrabble® Enable2K-Verified Anagrams | |
| Words within the letters "c-f-g-i-i-l-n-o-o-s-t-v" | |
-3 letters: cognovits, volitions. | |
-4 letters: cognovit, coitions, colistin, colonist, fictions, foisting, folioing, footings, footling, inflicts, inositol, isogonic, isotonic, logistic, scooting, stifling, stolonic, stooling, tinfoils, toolings, volition. | |
-5 letters: closing, cogitos, coifing, coiling, coition, colitis, confits, cooling, costing, covings, fiction, filings, fisting, fliting, foiling, fooling, footing, gnostic, inflict, lifting, listing, livings, locoing, lofting, logions, loosing, looting, lotions. | |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. SCRABBLE® is a registered trademark. All intellectual property rights in and to the game are owned in the U.S.A and Canada by Hasbro Inc., and throughout the rest of the world by J.W. Spear & Sons Limited of Maidenhead, Berkshire, England, a subsidiary of Mattel Inc. Mattel and Spear are not affiliated with Hasbro. | |
| 1. Definition 2. Synonyms 3. Crosswords 4. Usage: Modern | 5. Usage: Commercial 6. Images: Photo Album 7. Quotations: Non-fiction 8. Quotations: Speeches | 9. Expressions 10. Expressions: Internet 11. Translations: Modern 12. Abbreviations | 13. Acronyms 14. Anagrams 15. Bibliography |
Copyright © Philip M. Parker, INSEAD. Terms of Use.