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Synonyms

social science

American  

noun

  1. the study of society and social behavior.

  2. a science or field of study, as history, economics, etc., dealing with an aspect of society or forms of social activity.

social science British  

noun

  1. the study of society and of the relationship of individual members within society, including economics, history, political science, psychology, anthropology, and sociology

  2. any of these subjects studied individually

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
social science Scientific  
/ sō′shəl /

  1. Any of various disciplines that study human society and social relationships, including sociology, psychology, anthropology, economics, political science, and history.

social science Cultural  

  1. The study of how groups of people behave, often in an effort to predict how they will behave in the future. The social sciences include economics, anthropology, sociology, political science, and aspects of psychology and history.

Other Word Forms

  • social scientist noun

Etymology

Origin of social science

First recorded in 1775–85

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 a handful of star researchers on the cutting edge of science attract federal grants in the tens-of-millions of dollars, faculty in the social sciences and humanities often struggle to generate six figures.

From The Wall Street Journal

Marcie Niland-Sinyard, 19, studies social sciences at Cardiff University, and while media stories about interest rates worry her, she is unsure how much she will actually pay back.

From BBC

I am part of an interdisciplinary team of computer science, AI, cybersecurity, psychology, social science, journalism and policy researchers who have sounded the alarm about the threat of malicious AI swarms.

From Salon

The good news is that social science has answers.

From The Wall Street Journal

Together, they represent the physical sciences, life sciences and social sciences, and they host studies that have not yet been through peer review.

From Science Daily

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.