profit motive

American  

noun

1. the desire for profit that motivates one to engage in business ventures.

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profit motive Cultural  

1. The ability to earn profits as the reason for producers to make and sell goods.

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The profit motive is often called a great good or a great evil in society. On the one hand, it is said to represent selfishness; on the other, it is said to drive the free market system. (See invisible hand.)

Etymology

Origin of profit motive

First recorded in 1930–35

Example Sentences

Sir Martyn says this "strong profit motive... bends the system out of shape".

From BBC • Dec. 2, 2025

Other publications are trying to take the profit motive out of journalism.

From Seattle Times • Mar. 1, 2024

So is the fiction that anything other than the profit motive is going to govern how AI gets developed and deployed.

From Los Angeles Times • Nov. 21, 2023

Then, I would contact them with an offer of personalized emotional care and affirmative conversation with no profit motive.

From Slate • Oct. 28, 2023

He wanted to develop other areas more from the humanitarian view than the profit motive.

From The Psilent Partner by Peterson, John Victor