exploiting

American  

[ik-sploi-ting] / ɪkˈsplɔɪ tɪŋ /

noun

1. the act of utilizing something, especially for profit.

   More resources should be allocated to the exploiting of the local market by attracting more business to the region.

2. the act of using a person or thing selfishly for one’s own ends.

   When I saw the commercial, I was appalled at the exploiting of children's sorrow for corporate gain.

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adjective

1. using a person or thing selfishly or for profit.

   In late czarist Russia, activists began to galvanize workers and peasants against the exploiting landowners, industrialists, and state.

Other Word Forms

• self-exploiting adjective

Etymology

Origin of exploiting

First recorded in 1830–40; exploit ² ( def. ) + -ing ¹ ( def. ) for the noun senses; exploit ² ( def. ) + -ing ² ( def. ) for the adjective sense

Example Sentences

AI music platforms Suno and Udio were sued by major record labels in 2024 for allegedly exploiting the recorded works of professional musicians.

From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 16, 2026

The BBC has also discovered how some migrants are exploiting rules brought in by ministers to help genuine victims of domestic abuse to secure permanent residence more quickly than through other routes, such as asylum.

From BBC • Apr. 16, 2026

The traditional way of exploiting this pattern is to go to cash in the so-called “summer” months — from May 1 until Oct.

From MarketWatch • Apr. 15, 2026

Anthropic said this week its new AI model Mythos was so good at finding and exploiting software bugs that the company has no plans to release it to the general public.

From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 10, 2026

Even 20th-century plant breeders, armed with all the power of modern science, have had little success in exploiting North American wild plants.

From "Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies" by Jared M. Diamond

Related Words

• crooked
• fraudulent
• nefarious
• rotten
• shady
• unethical
• unscrupulous
• untrustworthy
• venal