Speakur

Word Pronunciation & Dictionary

sunk costs fallacy

Word Rarity Rare

Frequency: Zipf frequency 3.09 in modern English

Syllables
sunk -cost-s -fal-la-cy
IPA
30
Scrabble Score
16
Letters
6
Syllables
11
Unique Chars

Meaning

noun

The systematic tendency to allow unrecoverable past investments of time, money, or effort to affect a forward-looking decision, thereby continuing a project even when expected future costs exceed expected future benefits.

Inflected Forms

sunk costs fallacies (plural)

Phrases

double down throw good money after bad

Frequently Paired Words

double down throw good money after bad

Questions

What does sunk costs fallacy mean?
The systematic tendency to allow unrecoverable past investments of time, money, or effort to affect a forward-looking decision, thereby continuing a project even when expected future costs exceed expected future benefits.

How to pronounce sunk costs fallacy

  1. Open the pronunciation page — Open the Speakur entry for “sunk costs fallacy”.
  2. Read the phonetic spelling — Read the IPA spelling () so you know which sounds to aim for.
  3. Play the audio — Click Play to hear reference audio for “sunk costs fallacy”.
  4. Repeat and practice — Say “sunk costs fallacy” aloud, matching stress and vowels until it feels natural.