Standard Lemma guide

unprofitable

adj · noun · 3 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.

  • General-American: /ʌnˈpɹɑf.ɪ.təbl̩/
  • Received-Pronunciation: /ʌnˈpɹɒf.ɪ.təbl̩/
  • Southern-England: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • CMU ARPABET: AH0 N P R AA1 F IH0 T AH0 B AH0 L Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.

1

adj

Meaning 1

Not making a profit.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Examples

  • Being a professional poet is a nice job, albeit unprofitable.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: improfitable

Antonyms: profitable

2

noun

Meaning 2

A person or thing that fails to make a profit.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

3

adjective

Meaning 3

producing little or no profit or gain

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

Examples

  • deposits abandoned by mining companies as unprofitable

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: profitable

History

Etymology

Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *né Proto-Indo-European *n̥- Proto-Germanic *un- Proto-West Germanic *un- Old English un- Middle English un- English un- English profitable English unprofitable From un- + profitable.

Across languages

Translations

40 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Bulgarian: неизгоден (neizgoden) — not making a profit
  • Bulgarian: нерентабилен (nerentabilen) — not making a profit
  • Danish: urentabel — not making a profit
  • Finnish: tuottamaton — not making a profit
  • Finnish: kannattamaton — not making a profit
  • Georgian: წამგებიანი (c̣amgebiani) — not making a profit
  • Georgian: არამომგებიანი (aramomgebiani) — not making a profit
  • Georgian: არაშემოსავლიანი (arašemosavliani) — not making a profit
  • Georgian: არარენტაბელური (ararenṭabeluri) — not making a profit
  • Gothic: 𐌰𐌺𐍂𐌰𐌽𐌰𐌻𐌰𐌿𐍃 (akranalaus) — not making a profit
  • Greek: ασύμφορος (asýmforos) — not making a profit
  • Greek: αντιοικονομικός (antioikonomikós) — not making a profit
  • Greek: μη επικερδής (mi epikerdís) — not making a profit
  • Ancient Greek: ἀνωφελής (anōphelḗs) — not making a profit
  • Ancient Greek: ἄκαρπος (ákarpos) — not making a profit
  • Hindi: लाभहीन (lābhhīn) — not making a profit
  • Irish: neamhbhrabúsach — not making a profit
  • Irish: neamhshochrach — not making a profit
  • Lithuanian: nuostolingas — not making a profit
  • Māori: huakore — not making a profit
  • Norwegian Bokmål: ulønnsom — not making a profit
  • Polish: niedochodowy — not making a profit
  • Polish: nieintratny — not making a profit
  • Polish: nieopłacalny — not making a profit
  • Polish: nierentowny — not making a profit
  • Polish: niezyskowny — not making a profit
  • Romanian: dezavantajos — not making a profit
  • Romanian: nefructuos — not making a profit
  • Romanian: inutil — not making a profit
  • Russian: беспри́быльный (bespríbylʹnyj) — not making a profit
  • Russian: нерента́бельный (nerentábelʹnyj) — not making a profit
  • Russian: невы́годный (nevýgodnyj) — not making a profit
  • Sikkimese: གྱོང (gyong) — not making a profit
  • Spanish: desaventajado — not making a profit
  • Spanish: deficitario — not making a profit
  • Ottoman Turkish: كارسز (kârsız) — not making a profit
  • Ukrainian: неприбутко́вий (neprybutkóvyj) — not making a profit
  • Ukrainian: безприбутко́вий (bezprybutkóvyj) — not making a profit
  • Ukrainian: нерента́бельний (nerentábelʹnyj) — not making a profit
  • Ukrainian: неви́гідний (nevýhidnyj) — not making a profit
Real reading context

unprofitable in complete knowledge articles