unprofitable
Americanadjective
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being without profit; not showing or turning a profit.
a series of unprofitable ventures.
-
pointless or futile.
an unprofitable three years in a routine job.
adjective
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not making a profit
-
not fruitful or beneficial
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Etymology
Origin of unprofitable
1275–1325; Middle English. See un- 1, profitable
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.
SpaceX was unprofitable last year, filings show, and losses widened in the first quarter of 2026.
From The Wall Street Journal • Jun. 10, 2026
The decline in Rocket Lab’s stock reflects investor reassessment of valuations in the space sector, with the company remaining unprofitable.
From Barron's • Jun. 3, 2026
SpaceX, despite the massive valuation it will earn, is still unprofitable.
From Barron's • May 22, 2026
Exactly this happened during the dot-com bubble and was repeated in the postpandemic bubble in unprofitable tech stocks, when steady dividend stocks went out of fashion, before catching up by the end of 2022.
From The Wall Street Journal • May 21, 2026
Suddenly I realized that this unprofitable task of his was probably nothing more than a method of whiling away the early morning hours, much as other insomniacs do crossword puzzles.
From "The Secret History" by Donna Tartt
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.
