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uncommercial

American  
[uhn-kuh-mur-shuhl] / ˌʌn kəˈmɜr ʃəl /

adjective

  1. not engaged in or involved with commerce or trade.

  2. not in accordance with commercial principles or practices.

  3. not producing or likely to produce a profit.

    an artistic but uncommercial film.


uncommercial British  
/ ˌʌnkəˈmɜːʃəl /

adjective

  1. not concerned with commerce or trade

  2. not in accordance with the aims or principles of business or trade

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Etymology

Origin of uncommercial

First recorded in 1760–70; un- 1 + commercial


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:

Great artists major in defiance and minor in delusion: You will want to see what I have to offer, and love it, even if it is unfamiliar, disquieting and as ravishingly uncommercial as “Architecton.”

From The Wall Street Journal ● Dec. 2, 2025

“Some of these things are really unproven, uncommercial kinds of technologies,” Kelley says.

From Science Magazine ● Sep. 6, 2023

The 25-year-old split with Polydor in 2021 and went on to score her first ever number one single with Escapism, a song they had refused to release because it was deemed uncommercial.

From BBC ● May 18, 2023

Like the Delta blues or Yellowstone National Park, baseball is as indelibly American as it is painfully uncommercial.

From New York Times ● Apr. 6, 2022

That such a principle is antiquated, absurd, and uncommercial; that it is opposed to the whole system of trade as now adopted in this metropolis, has been clearly shown in the preface to these memoirs.

From The Struggles of Brown, Jones, and Robinson By One of the Firm by Anthony Trollope

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