Profitable Meaning
/ˈpɹɒf.ɪ.tə.bl̩/Definition, CEFR level B1, pronunciation, examples, and quiz.
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Definition
adjProducing a profit.
adjBeneficial, serviceable, of use.
Sentence Examples
What you've done is profitable only to the enemy.
Money lending is a profitable business in this country.
Synonyms & Antonyms
Antonyms:
CEFR Practice Quiz
After a year of strong sales, the new division became quite ____ for the parent company.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
The investment proved highly ____, returning three times the original amount within five years.
Word Origin & History
From Old French profitable, equivalent to profit + -able.
Literary Quotations & Historical Citations
"Profitable operation is being made possible by the widespread introduction of capacious diesel railcars, which for their comfort and speed are very popular with the travelling public."
— 1953 April, “Reviving U.S.A. Passenger Traffic”, in Railway Magazine, page 218:
"The dirty secret of the internet is that all this distraction and interruption is immensely profitable. Web companies like to boast about "creating compelling content", or offering services that let you "stay up to date with what your friends are doing"[…]and so on. But the real way to build a successful online business is to be better than your rivals at undermining people's control of their own attention."
— 2013 June 21, Oliver Burkeman, “The tao of tech”, in The Guardian Weekly, volume 189, number 2, page 27:
"California state Sen. Hannah-Beth Jackson told The Wall Street Journal last month when the legislation passed that “one-fourth of California’s publicly traded companies still do not have a single woman on their board, despite numerous independent studies that show companies with women on their board are more profitable and productive.”"
— 2018 September 30, Julia Carpenter and Jackie Wattles, “California has a new law: No more all-male boards”, in CNN Business:
"I wylbe ferme and ſtabyll
And to yow ſeruyceabyll
And also prophytabyll
Yf ye be agreabyll
My propyr Beſſe
To turne a gayne to me"
— c. 1521, John Skelton, Speke Parott:
"Great Men, taken up in any way, are profitable company."
— 1840 May 5, Thomas Carlyle, “Lecture I. The Hero as Divinity. Odin. Paganism: Scandinavian Mythology.”, in On Heroes, Hero-Worship and The Heroic in History, London: Chapman and Hall, […], published 1840, →OCLC, page 2:
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CEFR Practice Quiz
After a year of strong sales, the new division became quite ____ for the parent company.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
The investment proved highly ____, returning three times the original amount within five years.