unprofitable
Americanadjective
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being without profit; not showing or turning a profit.
a series of unprofitable ventures.
-
pointless or futile.
an unprofitable three years in a routine job.
adjective
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not making a profit
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not fruitful or beneficial
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of unprofitable
1275–1325; Middle English. See un- 1, profitable
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.
Not only are many companies within the microcap index unprofitable, but many included biotech companies haven’t yet booked any revenue.
From MarketWatch • Jul. 6, 2026
Three-quarters of the latter were unprofitable at the time of their IPOs.
From Los Angeles Times • Jun. 23, 2026
And IPOs of unprofitable tech companies with $100 million or more in inflation-adjusted past-year sales?
From The Wall Street Journal • Jun. 22, 2026
"It's simply unviable to build, unprofitable to build in large parts of the country," warned James Stevens of the Home Builders Federation.
From BBC • Jun. 11, 2026
Mr. Sharpe and the new investors made us sensible of how unprofitable were the products of crayon, quill, and fiddle.
From "The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing, Traitor to the Nation, Volume I: The Pox Party" by M.T. Anderson
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.
