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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Florida's B.E.S.T. Common Prefixes: non-
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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.
“We are a little bit beside ourselves,” said John Yep, the CEO of Catholics for Catholics, a nonprofit group that has hosted faith events at Mar-a-Lago.
From Salon • Apr. 17, 2026
The EFF, a nonprofit organization that advocates for free speech and privacy rights online, has long been a defender of Section 230.
From Salon • Apr. 16, 2026
Pildes, 50 years old, maintains the website and organizes the event through a nonprofit he controls, prosecutors said.
From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 15, 2026
If confirmed, Warsh has pledged to resign from more than a dozen corporate and nonprofit positions and sell dozens of holdings within 90 days.
From Barron's • Apr. 14, 2026
In February 1989, Eva Ansley and I opened our new nonprofit law center in Tuscaloosa, dedicated to providing free, quality legal services to condemned men and women on death row in Alabama.
From "Just Mercy" by Bryan Stevenson
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.
