Dictionary

K-shaped en · ADJ

(not-comparable) Shaped like the letter "K" or its mirror image.
(not-comparable) Characterized by increasing disparity; inequitable.
- K-shaped economy
- In April 2020, at the very start of the pandemic, economist Peter Atwater came up with an easy way to describe what this divide feels like to Americans: a K-shaped economy. A small few are on the upper part of the “K”, while most Americans feel as if they’re sliding down on the bottom side of the letter. […] Chief executives of companies such as Delta, Coca-Cola and McDonald’s have pointed out the K-shaped gap they’re seeing in consumer behavior. 2025 December 7, Lauren Aratani, “The K-shaped Christmas: wealthy few drive holiday spending splurge while many struggle to get by”, in The Guardian, →ISSN, archived from the original on 03 Feb 2026:
- About two decades later, the structural break that created the K-shaped economy, as it’s now understood, was more clearly observed in the wake of the Global Financial Crisis of the late 2000s, he said. 2026 January 30, Alex Harring, “Wealth inequality and the ‘K-shaped’ economy are more striking than ever, data shows”, in CNBC, archived from the original on 02 Feb 2026: