profiteering

noun

prof·​i·​teer·​ing ˌprä-fə-ˈtir-iŋ 

: the act or activity of making an unreasonable profit on the sale of essential goods especially during times of emergency

… investigations unearthed information about industrial profiteering during the First World War …

—Thomas E. Ricks

The real estate culture in Florida had pushed profiteering to new levels, in large part because of its condominium economy.

—Paul Reyes

Examples of profiteering in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

The Trump Administration rode to victory by criticizing the high food prices of the Biden-Harris era, while not acknowledging the outsized role of corporate profiteering in these price hikes. —Errol Schweizer, Forbes, 24 Mar. 2025

Ortenberg was an early champion of Moore, releasing in 2004 the Flint, Michigan firebrand’s Fahrenheit 9/11 — a connect-the-dots investigation of the George W. Bush presidency, the Iraq war, and corrupt wartime profiteering — which still stands as the highest-grossing documentary of all time. —Chris Lee, Vulture, 20 Mar. 2025

However, these arrangements were not mere shakedowns; they were anchored in strategic diplomacy and geopolitical calculus, rather than vulgar profiteering. —Ross Rosenfeld, Newsweek, 26 Feb. 2025

Even some Trump-friendly crypto insiders were uncomfortable with the brazen profiteering of the Trump-coin schemes. —Scott Rosenberg, Axios, 22 Jan. 2025

Word History

First Known Use

1814, in the meaning defined above

Phrases Containing profiteering

• anti-profiteering

Rhymes for profiteering

• commandeering
• disappearing
• domineering
• engineering
• interfering
• overhearing
• persevering
• pioneering
• privateering
• racketeering
• reappearing
• volunteering