profitable
Americanadjective
-
yielding profit; remunerative.
a profitable deal.
-
beneficial or useful.
- Synonyms:
- helpful, valuable, advantageous
adjective
Other Word Forms
- nonprofitability noun
- nonprofitable adjective
- nonprofitablely adverb
- nonprofitableness noun
- profitability noun
- profitableness noun
- profitably adverb
- subprofitable adjective
- subprofitableness noun
- subprofitably adverb
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.
“After all, this ‘buy the dip’ strategy, if you can call it that, has proved consistently profitable since October 2022,” he added.
From Barron's • Apr. 17, 2026
Unite's general secretary Sharon Graham, said: "DHL is hugely profitable, it can more than afford to put forward an acceptable pay offer."
From BBC • Apr. 16, 2026
By listing the same property multiple times with varying prices across multiple platforms, they were able to choose the most profitable reservation while canceling others, according to the plea agreements.
From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 15, 2026
The automaker recorded $19.5 billion in write-downs last year to pivot back to more profitable gas vehicles.
From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 15, 2026
If this reasoning is correct, then a search for deep geographic or ecological explanations will not be profitable.
From "Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies" by Jared M. Diamond
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.
