Saltwater Meaning
/sˌɔˈltwɑtər/Definition, CEFR level B1, pronunciation, examples, and quiz.
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Definition
nounAlternative form of salt water.
adjNew Keynesian or Keynesian, in reference to macroeconomics and economics departments on the East Coast and West Coast of the United States of America.
Sentence Examples
Australian saltwater crocodiles can grow up to 23 feet long and frequently kill people.
There are both freshwater and saltwater mussels.
Gargle with saltwater to relieve the pain of a sore throat.
CEFR Practice Quiz
The ocean contains a large amount of ____, so it is not drinkable.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
The aquarium maintained a large ____ tank filled with tropical fish and coral.
Word Origin & History
From Middle English saltwater, salte water, equivalent to salt + water. Cognate with Saterland Frisian Soaltwoater (“saltwater”), West Frisian sâltwetter (“saltwater”), Dutch zoutwater (“saltwater”), German Low German Soltwater (“saltwater”), German Salzwasser (“saltwater”), Danish saltvand (“saltwater”), Swedish saltvatten (“saltwater”), Icelandic saltvatn (“saltwater”).
Literary Quotations & Historical Citations
"Etzler was a follower of the wonkish French utopian Charles Fourier, who promised that the scientific reinvention of nature would transmute the saltwater into lemonade."
— 2025 March 18, Samuel Moyn, “Can Democrats Learn to Dream Big Again?”, in The New York Times, →ISSN, archived from the original on 27 Mar 2025:
"Sweetwater and Saltwater economists tend to differ on policy issues."
— 2004, Arnold Kling, Learning Economics, 1st edition, Xlibris, →ISBN, page 29:
"These findings suggest that the divide between fresh and saltwater departments has all but disappeared. The ideological battle is over."
— 2007, David Colander, The Making of an Economist, Redux, 2nd edition, Princeton University Press, published 2009, →ISBN, page 228:
"In the US, economists were said to be from sweetwater departments – from Chicago and Minnesota, where they were new classical – and from saltwater departments – MIT, Harvard and Yale, where they continued to be Keynesians who did not concede the ground totally to the new classical economists."
— 2015, Meghnad Desai, Hubris: Why Economists Failed to Predict the Crisis and How to Avoid the Next One, 1st edition, Yale University Press, →ISBN, page 191:
"A tax rate of say, 91 per cent – as suggested by the very saltwater Nobel Prizewinner, economist Paul Krugman – would force Americans to hand over a much larger proportion of their income than most are comfortable with."
— 2016, Philippa Malmgren, Signals: How Everyday Signs Can Help Us Navigate the World's Turbulent Economy, Hachette UK, →ISBN:
Explore More B1 Vocabulary Words
CEFR Practice Quiz
The ocean contains a large amount of ____, so it is not drinkable.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
The aquarium maintained a large ____ tank filled with tropical fish and coral.