K-shaped

English

Adjective

K-shaped (not comparable) (possessional)

1. Shaped like the letter "K" or its mirror image.

   Coordinate term: A-shaped - B-shaped - C-shaped - D-shaped - E-shaped - F-shaped - G-shaped - H-shaped - I-shaped - J-shaped - K-shaped - L-shaped - M-shaped - N-shaped - O-shaped - P-shaped - Q-shaped - R-shaped - S-shaped - T-shaped - U-shaped - V-shaped - W-shaped - X-shaped - Y-shaped - Z-shaped

2. (metonymic) Characterized by traits whose graphing produces curves with that shape.

   K-shaped economy

   • 2025 December 7, Lauren Aratani, “The K-shaped Christmas: wealthy few drive holiday spending splurge while many struggle to get by”, in The Guardian‎^[1], →ISSN:

     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.

   • 2026 January 30, Alex Harring, “Wealth inequality and the ‘K-shaped’ economy are more striking than ever, data shows”, in CNBC‎^[2], archived from the original on 2 February 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.

Related terms

• K-tool
• K-turn