unprofitable
/ʌn'prɔfitəbl/
Definition
- Adjective:
- Not yielding profit or financial gain: Describes an activity, business, investment, or venture that does not produce a surplus of revenue over expenses; it results in a loss or break-even situation.
- Not beneficial or advantageous: Can describe something that does not provide a useful return in terms of time, effort, or other resources invested.
Usage and Examples
- Describing a business or commercial activity:
- The company was forced to close several unprofitable stores.
- Farming on this arid land proved to be unprofitable.
- Describing a use of time or resources:
- Arguing about it further is an unprofitable exercise.
- He realized his research into the topic had been unprofitable.
Advanced Usage and Nuances
- Economic/Financial Context: The primary use is in business and economics to describe enterprises or transactions that fail to generate net income.
- The merger was deemed unprofitable and was called off.
- Figurative/General Context: Used more broadly to describe any endeavor that does not yield a desired or useful outcome.
- It is unprofitable to dwell on past mistakes.
Variants and Related Words
- Profitably (adverb): In a profitable manner.
- The company now operates profitably.
- Profitability (noun): The state or degree of being profitable.
- The profitability of the sector is declining.
- Nonprofit/Not-for-profit (adjective): These are distinct terms describing organizations (like charities) whose goal is not to generate profit for owners, not necessarily that they are loss-making.
Synonyms
- Loss-making: Incurring financial losses.
- Unremunerative: Not yielding financial reward.
- Fruitless: Failing to achieve the desired results; unproductive.
- Unproductive: Not producing or achieving much.
Antonyms
- Profitable: Yielding profit or financial gain.
- Lucrative: Producing a great deal of profit.
- Fruitful: Producing good or helpful results; productive.
- Gainful: Serving to increase wealth or resources.
Idioms and Fixed Phrases
- An unprofitable servant: A biblical and literary phrase denoting someone who fails in their duty or does not produce worthwhile results. (Note: This is a fixed phrase where "unprofitable" carries the meaning of "unworthy" or "unreliable" in a duty.)
- "Cast ye the unprofitable servant into outer darkness..." (Matthew 25:30)
Adjective
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producing little or no profit or gain
-
deposits abandoned by mining companies as unprofitable
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