Definition of "negative-sum" [negative-sum]

• Of a situation in which there is a net loss (adjective)

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• "In international relations, you are frequently looking at avoiding war – always a negative-sum game in the short run and frequently in the long."
• "But the many attempts at communism have shown that some economic systems are negative-sum games."
• "Business leaders seem unaware of the critical difference between the market world of positive-sum transactions and the political world of negative-sum transactions."