unprofitable
Americanadjective
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being without profit; not showing or turning a profit.
a series of unprofitable ventures.
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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.
Also, roughly 40% of the companies in the Russell 2000 are unprofitable, making them even more vulnerable to refinancing risk.
From MarketWatch ● Jun. 30, 2026
Three-quarters of the latter were unprofitable at the time of their IPOs.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 23, 2026
The company is also unprofitable and basing its roughly $1.77 trillion valuation largely on the prospects of its nascent artificial-intelligence unit.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 11, 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
Oddly, Cassano was as likely to direct his anger at profitable traders as at unprofitable ones, for the anger was triggered not by financial loss but by the faintest whiff of insurrection.
From "The Big Short" by Michael Lewis
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.
