exploit

¹ American  

[ek-sploit, ik-sploit] / ˈɛk splɔɪt, ɪkˈsplɔɪt /

noun

1. a striking or notable deed; feat; spirited or heroic act.

   the exploits of Alexander the Great.

   Synonyms:

   accomplishment

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exploit ² American  

[ik-sploit, eks-ploit, ik-sploit] / ɪkˈsplɔɪt, ˈɛks plɔɪt, ɪkˈsplɔɪt /

verb (used with object)

exploits, present (3rd person singular) exploited, past participle, past exploiting present participle

1. to utilize, especially for profit; turn to practical account.

   to exploit a business opportunity.

2. to use selfishly for one's own ends.

   employers who exploit their workers.

3. to advance or further through exploitation; promote.

   He exploited his new movie through a series of guest appearances.

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noun

Digital Technology.

1. 1. a flaw in hardware or software that is vulnerable to hacking or other cyberattacks.

   2. a piece of software that takes advantage of such a flaw to compromise a computer system or network.

2. (in a video game) the use of a bug or flaw in game design to a player’s advantage or to the disadvantage of other players.

exploit British  

noun

1. a notable deed or feat, esp one that is noble or heroic

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verb

1. to take advantage of (a person, situation, etc), esp unethically or unjustly for one's own ends

2. to make the best use of

   to exploit natural resources

Usage

What does exploit mean? As a verb, exploit commonly means to selfishly take advantage of someone in order to profit from them or otherwise benefit oneself. As a noun, exploit means a notable or heroic accomplishment. As a verb, exploit can also be used in a more neutral way that doesn’t imply selfishness: to make the best use of something, especially an opportunity, to create a profit or other benefit. But when the verb is applied to people, it is always used negatively. The noun form of the verb exploit is exploitation, and the adjective form is exploitative, as in exploitative practices. Example: I know you’re trying to live up to the exploits and success of your father, but exploiting your workers to maximize profit is not the way to do it.

Synonym Usage

See achievement.

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• exploitability
  noun
• exploitation
  noun
• exploiter
  noun
• exploitable
  adjective
• exploitative
  adjective
• exploitatory
  adjective
• exploitive
  adjective
• nonexploitable
  adjective
• nonexploitative
  adjective
• nonexploitive
  adjective
• unexploitable
  adjective
• unexploitative
  adjective
• unexploitive
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Participles

• exploiting
  present
• exploited
  past

Conjugated Forms

Present

• exploit
  simple
• exploits
  simple
• have exploited
  perfect
• has exploited
  perfect
• am exploiting
  progressive
• are exploiting
  progressive
• is exploiting
  progressive
• have been exploiting
  perfect progressive
• has been exploiting
  perfect progressive

Past

• exploited
  simple
• had exploited
  perfect
• was exploiting
  progressive
• were exploiting
  progressive
• had been exploiting
  perfect progressive

Future

• will exploit
  simple
• will have exploited
  perfect
• will be exploiting
  progressive
• will have been exploiting
  perfect progressive

Etymology

Origin of exploit¹

First recorded in 1350–1400; Middle English exploit, espleit, from Old French exploit, Anglo-French espleit, from Latin explicitum, neuter of explicitus “unfolded, set forth,” variant past participle of explicāre “to unfold, unroll, smooth, reveal”; see explicate

Origin of exploit²

First recorded in 1300–50; from French exploiter, derivative of exploit (noun); replacing late Middle English expleiten “to achieve,” from Anglo-French, Middle French espleiter, espleitier, derivative of espleit, esploit, expleit, exploit (noun), from Latin explicitum “matter settled, displayed,” noun use of explicitus “unfolded, revealed,” variant past participle of explicāre; see exploit ¹

Explanation

An exploit is a heroic act or notable deed. The King Arthur legends are full of stories of the exploits of the Knights of the Round Table, including Sir Lancelot and King Arthur himself. This noun is from Middle English expleit, "outcome," from Latin explicitus, "unfolded, set forth." The verb exploit means to use someone or something, usually selfishly or for profit. Workers who are tired of being exploited by factory owners form unions that allow them to stand together as a powerful force.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

exploit exploits exploited exploiting

"It did not just attack Hugging Face. It actually attacked its internal system to exploit its own vulnerabilities," Abbass said.

From Barron's ● Jul. 22, 2026

Former England wing Chris Ashton believes this pattern of ill-discipline is a weakness opposition teams will look to exploit.

From BBC ● Jul. 19, 2026

Therefore, if investors were buying calls to exploit future upside potential in the stock, then derivative traders would be looking to buy shares to hedge themselves.

From MarketWatch ● Jul. 15, 2026

I’m not positive you can use this book to exploit other people’s errors, but it should help you mitigate your own.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 14, 2026

How do we know the people running your CDO machine aren’t just using your enthusiasm for shorting your own market to exploit us?

From "The Big Short" by Michael Lewis

At the 2026 World Cup, their exploits have been matched by 2024 Ballon d'Or winner Rodri and the double Champions League-winning Ruiz.

From BBC ● Jul. 17, 2026

For all of their exploits, however, Messi, Mbappé and the rest still rank behind one prolific marksman who might not be so familiar to most soccer fans.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 9, 2026

Telemachus was so young when his father left for the Trojan wars that he doesn't remember him - except through the already mythical stories told about his exploits, cunning and bravery.

From BBC ● Jul. 8, 2026

The oil man’s exploits take place more than a century ago, but seem particularly relevant now with Musk newly minted as the world’s first trillionaire and income inequality rapidly widening.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 29, 2026

He understood that this could not be achieved through racing exploits alone.

From "Seabiscuit: An American Legend" by Laura Hillenbrand

Patel’s style has been built around dark insinuation, and in this case his phrasing was official enough to seem consequential, yet vague enough to be exploited.

From Salon ● Jul. 13, 2026

The lawsuit claims that Liu did not return an Apple-issued work laptop and exploited a “rare, previously unknown” bug to access Apple’s shared network folders while employed at OpenAI.

From MarketWatch ● Jul. 10, 2026

Privacy International also criticised the feature, telling the BBC it was "the latest sign AI companies see people's images and data as raw material to be exploited".

From BBC ● Jul. 8, 2026

“Software vulnerabilities could be identified and exploited faster than firms were able to respond, leaving less time to detect, contain and remediate emerging threats.”

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 7, 2026

The fact that the enemy had exploited our surrender didn’t mean we were wrong to surrender.

From "Long Walk to Freedom" by Nelson Mandela

“The systems in each voting location are not connected to the Internet or to each other, and many methods for exploiting them rely on physical proximity.”

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 17, 2026

Whether the genre is romantasy or autofiction, making up stories often demands making up stories about real people — exploiting them — to serve a narrative purpose.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 14, 2026

Researchers have found that by exploiting quantum coherence, it may be possible to create engines that exceed those classical limits.

From Science Daily ● Jul. 5, 2026

Thus, this shocking program was exploiting doctors and the trust inherent in their relationships with patients, and it was also divisive among the many hardworking physicians.

From MarketWatch ● Jul. 2, 2026

He watched the class like a hawk, suspicious, searching out cheaters or daydreamers, probing for weaknesses in the students and then exploiting those weaknesses.

From "The Chocolate War" by Robert Cormier

Related Words

• abuse
• apply
• capitalize on
• employ
• handle
• manipulate
• mine
• profit from
• use
• utilize