profitable

adjective

prof·​it·​able ˈprä-fə-tə-bəl 

ˈpräf-tə-bəl

: affording profits : yielding advantageous returns or results

profitability

ˌprä-fə-tə-ˈbi-lə-tē 

noun

profitableness

ˈprä-fə-tə-bəl-nəs 

noun

profitably

ˈprä-fə-tə-blē 

adverb

Synonyms

• economic
• fat
• gainful
• juicy
• lucrative
• moneymaking
• money-spinning [chiefly British]
• paying
• remunerative

Examples of profitable in a Sentence

The movie was very profitable.

selling real estate on the side turned out to be a profitable venture for the stay-at-home mom

Recent Examples on the Web

The company expects five of its current local markets to be profitable this year. —Sara Fischer, Axios, 15 Jan. 2025

Its ownership of the club already was probably profitable for the family. —Brendan Coffey, Sportico.com, 15 Jan. 2025

To mitigate this risk, Disney also needed what is known in the movie industry as a tentpole, a big-budget movie which makes enough income to compensate a studio for its less profitable productions. —Caroline Reid, Forbes, 14 Jan. 2025

That ignited speculation about who would take over at the largest and most profitable U.S. bank by assets. —Hugh Son, CNBC, 14 Jan. 2025

Word History

First Known Use

14th century, in the meaning defined above

Kids Definition

profitable

adjective

prof·​it·​able ˈpräf-ət-ə-bəl 

ˈpräf-tə-bəl

: producing profit

profitably

-blē 

adverb

Legal Definition

profitable

adjective

prof·​it·​able ˈprä-fə-tə-bəl 

: affording profits : yielding advantageous returns or results

profitability

ˌprä-fə-tə-ˈbi-lə-tē 

noun

profitableness noun

profitably adverb