profitable
Americanadjective
-
yielding profit; remunerative.
a profitable deal.
-
beneficial or useful.
- Synonyms:
- helpful, valuable, advantageous
adjective
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of profitable
Explanation
Things that are profitable make money or are beneficial in other ways. Businesses hope to be profitable in the financial sense, but a profitable relationship is one that's good for everyone involved. Profitable started out as a word to describe anything useful, but it hooked up with finance in the mid-1700s. Profits are measured in money earned beyond expenses, so profitable businesses or transactions make money. A busy restaurant, sold-out concert, and best-selling book are all profitable. People also use this word for situations that are good in ways that don’t involve money. If you learned a lot from something, then it was a profitable experience, even if you didn't make any cash.
Vocabulary lists containing profitable
Content Summary 4.1: Causes and Consequences of Iberian Maritime Exploration and Colonialism
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From the Mixed-up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler
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Business, List 3
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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.
European fossil fuel companies that once touted renewable goals, including Shell, BP and Norway’s Equinor, have dialed them back and doubled down on more profitable oil and gas.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 24, 2026
The company—the world’s largest automaker by sales—is roughly twice as profitable as GM and recently raised its annual earnings forecast, saying it will benefit from a weaker yen and smaller impact from the Iran war.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 21, 2026
He did, however, meet players as a group and set out his vision for the future - the primary aim being to make LIV sustainable, and ultimately profitable.
From BBC ● Aug. 21, 2026
But there will be no doubt in the minds of Goldthorpe and the LIV hierarchy that turning this into a profitable organisation will take a serious shift in outlook, and of course in spending.
From BBC ● Aug. 21, 2026
Lippmann had at least one good reason for not putting up a huge fight: There was a fantastically profitable market waiting to be created.
From "The Big Short" by Michael Lewis
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.
