material goods

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

While the relationship between money and happiness is typically framed as a choice between spending on material goods or spending on experiences, many Americans are expressing a different desire for their money: saving more.

From MarketWatch • Dec. 11, 2025

We can measure its realization in our own lives in a variety of ways, and often we tend to do so in terms of material goods.

From Salon • Mar. 26, 2025

In addition to the shipment of material goods like agricultural products, precious metals, and spices, the transportation of enslaved people was also facilitated along Islamic trading routes.

From Textbooks • Dec. 14, 2022

In their 1972 book, “The Limits to Growth,” the researchers warned that unless humankind changed the way it used and consumed material goods on a global scale, civilization would likely collapse before 2070.

From Seattle Times • Oct. 24, 2022

The relative lack of material goods has led some to regard these groups as exemplifying an ethic of living lightly on the land.

From "1491" by Charles C. Mann