paper profit
Americannoun
Etymology
Origin of paper profit
First recorded in 1890–95
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.
The government’s $11.1 billion Intel investment in August 2025 yielded a $40 billion paper profit as shares rose nearly 370%.
From Barron's ● May 8, 2026
The shares have since fallen, but he’s still sitting on a paper profit of about $120 and doesn’t plan to sell.
From New York Times ● Mar. 21, 2021
He already has a massive paper profit on his 9.7 percent stake in Allergan, built over February and March.
From Reuters ● Apr. 22, 2014
Bank of America closed at $7.88 a share in New York last week, giving Buffett a paper profit of more than $500 million and 9 1/2 years for those gains to grow.
From BusinessWeek ● Feb. 27, 2012
Teasing you along, letting you pile up a little paper profit, then bang!
From "The Sound and the Fury" by William Faulkner
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.
