financial

financial — adjective

1. describing anything that involves money — for example, banking, loans, savings,

1.adjectiveB1
Definition

describing anything that involves money — for example, banking, loans, savings, investments, budgets, and the income or spending of individuals, businesses, or governments.

Example

The Watanabe family faced serious financial problems after the factory closed.

collocation: financial problems

Rania decided to see a financial advisor before buying her first apartment.

collocation: financial advisor

Common collocations
  • financial problems
  • financial aid
  • financial advisor
  • financial report
  • financial crisis
  • financial services
  • financial support
  • financial markets
  • financial institution
  • financial year
Synonyms
  • monetary

    focuses specifically on currency and the money supply; more technical and often used in central-banking contexts

  • fiscal

    limited to government and public-sector taxation, revenue, and spending; more formal

  • economic

    broader in scope — covers the whole economy, including production, trade, and employment

Antonyms
  • nonfinancial

    describes matters not related to money or finance

Grammar Patterns

financial + noun

be + financial

Usage Note

Often placed before a noun to describe matters connected with banking, investment, budgets, or personal and company money. Common in fixed combinations such as 'financial aid', 'financial crisis', and 'financial services.'

Common Mistakes

This washing machine is very financial with water.
This washing machine is very economical with water.
'financial' relates to money systems; 'economical' means not wasting resources.
The mayor announced new financial policies for the city budget.
The mayor announced new fiscal policies for the city budget.
'fiscal' is the correct word for government revenue and spending.

Word family

Synonym discussion

Sense: adjective/1

All four words relate to money, but they cover different territory. Financial is the broadest everyday term for anything involving money management — from personal budgets to corporate banking. Monetary narrows the focus to currency itself and the money supply, making it the preferred term in central banking contexts (e.g. monetary policy). Fiscal is restricted to government income and spending — taxation, public budgets, national debt. Economic is the widest of the four, covering production, trade, employment, and the whole system of resource allocation. A change in interest rates is a monetary policy decision; the resulting budget adjustments are fiscal measures; their combined effect on jobs and growth is an economic outcome.

financial ↗monetary ↗fiscal ↗economic ↗

Common collocations

Nouns

Adverbs

  • purely financial
  • strictly financial
  • mainly financial
  • purely financial matters

Phrases

  • financial planning
  • financial management
  • financial regulation

Etymology

LatinFrenchEnglish

Comes from French 'financier', meaning 'relating to finance'. The root 'finance' originally referred to the settling of a debt or payment, tracing further back to Old French 'finer' (to end, to settle) and ultimately to Latin 'finis' (end or boundary). Over time the meaning shifted from 'ending a debt by payment' to the broader modern sense of managing money.