unprofitable

[uhn-prof-i-tuh-buhl]

adjective

1. being without profit; not showing or turning a profit.

   a series of unprofitable ventures.

2. pointless or futile.

   an unprofitable three years in a routine job.

unprofitable

/ ʌnˈprɒfɪtəbəl /

adjective

1. not making a profit

2. not fruitful or beneficial

Other Word Forms

• unprofitableness noun
• unprofitability noun
• unprofitably adverb

Word History and Origins

Origin of unprofitable¹

1275–1325; Middle English. See un- ¹, profitable

Example Sentences

He added: "Our services' aim is to seize the largest possible quantities of contraband and to detain organisers and perpetrators so that this activity is unprofitable and does not pose a risk to civil aviation."

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Mr Smith continued that many of Poundland's stores were "unprofitable at their current rents", with the company paying "higher than market rates for a significant number" of its sites.

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Pepco said it was effectively offloading an unprofitable part of the business.

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Village Roadshow also conceded that its ambitious push into producing independent films and television programs before the pandemic was unprofitable, exacerbating its financial woes.

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But the federal government “is not a small- to medium-sized, unprofitable social media company. And the jury is still out on whether that was actually an effective way to manage Twitter.”

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Related Words

• fruitless 
• futile 
• idle 
• useless