for-profit

adjective

for-prof·​it ˈfȯr-ˈprä-fət 

: established, maintained, or conducted for the purpose of making a profit

for-profit businesses

Examples of for-profit in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, which were publicly traded for-profit companies chartered by Congress, led the effort to standardize mortgage contracts. —Raja Krishnamoorthi, MSNBC Newsweek, 9 Apr. 2025

In 2020, Lamm and Church agreed to create a for-profit company, called Colossal Biosciences, whose showcase product would be the deëxtinction of animals. —D. T. Max, New Yorker, 7 Apr. 2025

The public would benefit from far greater oversight of these expanding programs, given the history of widespread problems, not least of which is that partnering with for-profit camera companies can incentivize ticket volume over fairness or safety. —The Editorial Board, Chicago Tribune, 7 Apr. 2025

Instead, artists of the 18th and 19th centuries operated in a for-profit marketplace. —Joanna Dee Das, The Conversation, 4 Apr. 2025

Word History

First Known Use

1939, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for for-profit

• nonprofit
• profit
• prophet
• soffit

Kids Definition

for-profit

adjective

for-prof·​it

ˈfȯr-ˈpräf-ət

: existing or carried on for the purpose of making a profit

for-profit business