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
Derived 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.
The insurers behind the Medicare Advantage market have been exiting certain unprofitable markets or discontinuing plans amid higher-than-expected medical expenses among subscribers and changes in government payments that have squeezed margins.
From MarketWatch • May 18, 2026
But Cerebras is a small, unprofitable company that is also burning cash as it builds up a cloud-computing service using its own chips.
From The Wall Street Journal • May 15, 2026
The company still was regarded as a unicorn in the world of small, unprofitable biotechs.
From Barron's • May 13, 2026
The waiver allows companies to ship oil and fuel to California on bigger tankers, improving the economics of typically unprofitable trade flows.
From The Wall Street Journal • May 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.
