gainful

[ geyn-fuhl ]

adjective

1. profitable; lucrative:

   gainful employment.

gainful

/ ˈɡeɪnfʊl /

adjective

1. profitable; lucrative

   gainful employment

Derived Forms

• ˈgainfully, adverb
• ˈgainfulness, noun

Other Words From

• gainful·ly adverb
• gainful·ness noun
• un·gainful adjective
• un·gainful·ly adverb

Word History and Origins

Origin of gainful¹

First recorded in 1545–55; gain ¹ + -ful

Example Sentences

One of the many positive effects of this law, is to allow people to regain their good name and gainful employment.

From Voice of San Diego

To qualify for disability benefits from the SSA, an individual must show they have an impairment that prevents them from “substantial, gainful activity” that is expected to last at least 12 months or result in their death.

From Time

He went to business school at the University of Chicago, spent 19 years working in finance and then gave up gainful employment to work for Humanitarian China, which he co-founded in 2007 to provide aid to families of political prisoners in China.

From Washington Post

College gives way to the greater demands of grad school, gainful employment, and career planning.

From The Daily Beast

Gainful corporations have no such power unless it has been granted by their charter or by statute.

From Project Gutenberg

The proportion of the population engaged in gainful occupation at the present time is significant.

From Project Gutenberg

For hospitals are not engaged in a gainful pursuit, regardless of all humanitarian considerations.

From Project Gutenberg

These convicts were transported by private shippers, and then sold into the colony; and thus it became a gainful enterprise.

From Project Gutenberg

Roughly speaking, Great Britain has twenty million persons in gainful pursuits.

From Project Gutenberg