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

His ratings have been profitable 52% of the time, delivering an average return of 19.2%. —Tipranks.com Staff, CNBC, 26 Jan. 2025

Kirby noted that all seven United hubs are profitable. —Ted Reed, Forbes, 24 Jan. 2025

The takeaway from these conversations to me is that companies will continue to pursue profitable climate initiatives in face of Trump, even if some of them no longer frame them as climate initiatives. —Justin Worland/davos, TIME, 24 Jan. 2025

The relentless focus on being just a chipmaker meant that TSMC has been continuously profitable from 1991. —Kerry Brown, Newsweek, 22 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