gainful
Americanadjective
adjective
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of gainful
Explanation
When something is gainful, it is profitable. In other words, it benefits or rewards the person who is doing it. You are most likely to come across the word gainful followed by employment. For some reason, most writers use this adjective to describe the working world, and the idea that a job provides a benefit to the worker — usually, in the form of money. Occasionally, you'll see other words replace employment, but they will still mean "work." The root of gainful is the Old French gaaignier, "to earn or gain," and also "to work in the fields or cultivate land."
Vocabulary lists containing gainful
The Bluest Eye
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Because They Marched
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Sadie
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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.
Pivoting was her “best chance at obtaining gainful employment,” she added.
From Slate • Apr. 20, 2026
“I think the history of technology innovation is that people have re-skilled and have found gainful employment in other aspects of the economy,” said Joe Baratta, global head of Blackstone’s private-equity business.
From The Wall Street Journal • Sep. 27, 2025
So, accustomed to a regular paycheck from gainful employment for the previous 28 years, I was now a start-up, spelling a whole new ballgame.
From Salon • Mar. 11, 2025
"I ended up in another toxic, damaging relationship, lost hope of gainful employment and life got exponentially worse," she says.
From BBC • Nov. 18, 2023
The argument went that we benefitted from compulsory education, as it provides a livelihood for formerly enslaved, who couldn’t find gainful employment after the war.
From "Dread Nation" by Justina Ireland
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.
