ROI

What it means

ROI stands for 'return on investment' — a measure of how much you gain relative to what you spent. A high ROI means good value for the money, time, or effort. Beyond finance, people use it loosely for anything worth (or not worth) the input.

Words like “ROI” are exactly the kind of vocabulary our English vocabulary size test measures — find out how many English words you know.

Examples

• The campaign delivered a strong ROI.
• We need to prove the ROI before scaling up.
• Honestly, the ROI on that course was low.
• Investors always ask about expected ROI.

Where it comes from

A finance initialism that spread into marketing and everyday speech as a shorthand for 'was it worth it?'

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