profiteer
Americannoun
verb (used without object)
noun
verb
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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profiteersimple
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profiteerssimple
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have profiteeredperfect
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has profiteeredperfect
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am profiteeringprogressive
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are profiteeringprogressive
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is profiteeringprogressive
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have been profiteeringperfect progressive
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has been profiteeringperfect progressive
Past
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profiteeredsimple
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had profiteeredperfect
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was profiteeringprogressive
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were profiteeringprogressive
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had been profiteeringperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of profiteer
Explanation
To profiteer is to take advantage of a situation or a person in order to make money. A landlord might profiteer during a housing shortage by doubling rents. When you profiteer, you don't just profit — you profit more than you should at the expense of someone else. You can also call a person who does this a profiteer. Profiteers famously take advantage of things like scarce food or ongoing conflicts to make a lot of money. The word existed but wasn't commonly used in English until World War I, when journalists started talking about "war profiteers" who benefited financially from shortages and desperation.
Vocabulary lists containing profiteer
Chapter 5: The American Revolution, Lessons 3–5
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Bull Run
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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.
See Examples For:
SKW's CEO Carsten Franzke says that the company is not a "war profiteer" and will probably just break even once soaring energy costs are also taken into account.
From Barron's ● May 3, 2026
They also would risk casting Saudi Arabia in the role of profiteer in a war it didn’t start.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 20, 2026
But then, the very act and art of dealmaking, you soon realize, is fundamental to Oskar Schindler’s story, which is, after all, the story of a German war profiteer.
From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 14, 2023
Mr Brown said organisers were "naturally disappointed" that some had "decided to try to profiteer" from Liverpool's staging of the event.
From BBC ● Oct. 9, 2022
Oskar Schindler has been called many names: scoundrel, womanizer, war profiteer, drunk.
From "The Boy on the Wooden Box" by Leon Leyson
Exchanges and index providers, the profiteers of trading volume, will cash in by quickly listing the stocks.
From Barron's ● Jun. 10, 2026
Next step for the profiteers of the “Michael” movie is its no doubt inevitable sequel.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 2, 2026
Love said we need to reclaim the importance of science, which “requires a systemic mindset shift that won’t happen until the misinformation spread by wellness profiteers is clamped down on.”
From Salon ● Apr. 13, 2025
Attorneys for a U.S Navy veteran said Tuesday that their client’s reputation and earning power were destroyed by a 2021 CNN report on war profiteers following the U.S. military’s withdrawal from Afghanistan.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jan. 7, 2025
One senator denounced the various “illegal plots, counterplots, espionage, decoys, dictographs” that were being used not to “detect and prosecute crime but...to shield profiteers, bribe takers and favorites.”
From "Killers of the Flower Moon" by David Grann
Some supermarket bosses believe theft has been legitimized in the minds of some by accusations that supermarkets have profiteered from food price increases.
From New York Times ● Oct. 25, 2023
There had been a significant financial cost to replace the stolen items while colleagues felt "let down" as Todhunter had "profiteered" while they struggled with a lack of PPE equipment during the coronavirus pandemic.
From BBC ● Sep. 3, 2021
But he has benefited and profited and profiteered from all of it, each and every day, to the point that he now finds himself in the unique position of being in charge of it now.
From Slate ● Jun. 2, 2020
Instead, the scariest thing about this “Nether” is James Weidman’s thoroughly convincing performance as the defender of a cyberworld he’s built, and profiteered from, that is triggering unexpected meatspace consequences.
From Seattle Times ● May 3, 2018
Finally, during the Crusades, the Italian cities had become the point of embarkation for the Crusaders and had profiteered to an almost unbelievable extent.
From The Story of Mankind by Van Loon, Hendrik Willem
Company leaders were wary, worried about safety, failure and accusations of profiteering.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 26, 2026
The probe comes amid growing concerns over profiteering on Kalshi and Polymarket, which allow users to bet on elections, sports games, weather events, and government actions.
From Barron's ● May 22, 2026
This is not the first time that Gilead has been accused of profiteering.
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 9, 2026
The government has said it is primed to step in if there are signs petrol sellers are profiteering from the crisis - something the Petrol Retailers Association has denied is the case.
From BBC ● Mar. 30, 2026
“Are you silently condemning me for profiteering from the war? Somebody had to import the stockfish, you know.”
From "Half of a Yellow Sun" by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
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.
