nonprofit
Americanadjective
noun
adjective
noun
Etymology
Origin of nonprofit
Compare meaning
How does nonprofit compare to similar and commonly confused words? Explore the most common comparisons:
Explanation
A business or organization is nonprofit if its main purpose isn't making money for its owners. Nonprofit companies usually raise money for charities. You can use the word nonprofit as an adjective or a noun — a nonprofit is an organization that benefits some public good, rather than raising revenue for stockholders or owners. There are educational nonprofits, religious nonprofits, public health nonprofits, and many others. The word's been around since the 1920s, combining non, or "not," with profit, from the Latin root profectus, "advance, increase, success, or progress."
Vocabulary lists containing nonprofit
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non-
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Florida's B.E.S.T. Common Prefixes: non-
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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.
Maria Lou Calanche, executive director of the nonprofit Expanded Learning Alliance, trailed Hernandez, according to early returns.
From Los Angeles Times • Jun. 3, 2026
Having to be a “price taker” is especially true when it comes to the sale of Binaghi’s goods at the Greenmarket in New York City, a producer-only farmers market run by nonprofit organization GrowNYC.
From MarketWatch • Jun. 2, 2026
Granting nonprofit status to an essentially commercial entity is a mistake, especially if the option to convert to profit-making status remains.
From The Wall Street Journal • Jun. 1, 2026
The DOJ is purportedly seeking to charge the nonprofit with money laundering and obstruction.
From Slate • Jun. 1, 2026
He was working two part-time jobs—one in the office of a legal nonprofit organization in Boston, and he also started assisting Vincent at Ari’s Cakes.
From "From the Desk of Zoe Washington" by Janae Marks
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.
