exploitative
Americanadjective
Usage
What does exploitative mean? Exploitative is an adjective that describes someone or something that selfishly takes advantage of someone or a group of people in order to profit from them or otherwise benefit.It comes from the verb exploit, which commonly means to take advantage in such a way. The act of doing so is exploitation.As a verb, exploit can also be used in a more neutral way that doesn’t imply selfishness: to make the best use of something, especially an opportunity, or to create a profit or other benefit. But when the verb is applied to people, it is always used negatively.Exploitative is only ever used negatively, and it always implies greed, selfishness, or unethical practices. It’s often used in the context of the exploitation of workers by businesses, especially in phrases like exploitative practices. Other, less common variations of exploitative are exploitive and exploitatory.Example: The article exposes many of the industry’s exploitative business practices.
Other Word Forms
- exploitatively adverb
Etymology
Origin of exploitative
First recorded in 1890–95; exploit 2 ( def. ) + -ative ( def. )
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.
“Some companies are using consumer data in a way that generates real value, but others use it in more exploitative ways,” Liu-Thompkins said.
From MarketWatch
Stories of Chinese celebrities or government officials working with overseas surrogates have sometimes caused scandal among the public at home, which tends to view surrogacy as ethically dubious and exploitative.
The result is a much more somber, ruminative exploration of morality in governmental authority than the stylish violence of “Il Divo” and exploitative raunch of “Loro.”
From Los Angeles Times
It includes measures such as giving workers the right to sick pay and parental leave from their first day in a job, banning "exploitative" zero-hour contracts and strengthening the right to request flexible working.
From BBC
The 20th-century culture business produced “profound” popular art even though its contracts were exploitative beyond the dreams of neoliberalism and its middlemen were often crooks.
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.
