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Meaning of zero-sum game | Babel Free

Noun CEFR B2

Definitions

A game (or a similar political or economic system) in which the gains of some players must equal the losses of others.

Equivalents

Examples

“Dalio is right, but somewhat self-serving. If hedge-fund managers are playing a zero-sum game, what is their social utility? […] Can it really be in America’s interest to have so much of its young talent playing a zero-sum game?”
“A zero-sum game, as its name suggests, is one in which, whatever the outcome, the payoffs to the players add up to zero, which means that what one player gains, the other(s) must necessarily lose.”
“Listen, I know it's been hard / You know it’s no different for me / We’re less than a zero-sum game now / And baby, we both know that's not how it's supposed to be”
“He said turning a lab-created animal into a wild population would be an “enormous challenge”, but the financial support for de-extinction research should not be seen as a “zero sum game”.”
“On the flight home after their first talks, a deflated Merkel concluded that Trump “looked at everything like the real estate developer he was before he entered politics” – as a zero-sum game.”

CEFR level

B2
Upper Intermediate
This word is part of the CEFR B2 vocabulary — upper intermediate level.

See also

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