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.

About one-third pointed to spending on experiences, and 13% chose spending on material goods.

From MarketWatch • Nov. 21, 2025

As Bob Batchelor wrote in his paper "Advertising in the 1920s," most Americans both had more financial success than they had in the previous decade and increasingly equated material goods with personal success.

From Salon • Mar. 13, 2023

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

Whites had arrived, imposed centralized government, and brought material goods whose value New Guineans instantly recognized, ranging from steel axes, matches, and medicines to clothing, soft drinks, and umbrellas.

From "Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies" by Jared M. Diamond