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Glite Dictionary
in green

in green

4 6.0
An investment or account that shows a profit
  • idiom
  • Specialized
: en positivo

Examples

  • There are government grants available to help people invest in green energy.

    Blog text (11)

  • A lot of money can be made in green technology (yes, I know a lot of the spending will come from government, but that is life) and more and more companies will look to profit.

    Blog text (17)

  • To add a little more, I think that Psalm 23 is a reference to this time of peace -- "maketh me lie down in green pastures".

    Blog text (17)

  • The company's financial report showed that all their recent investments are in green, indicating a positive balance this quarter.

  • Thanks to the new sustainable practices implemented, our profit margins are now firmly in green territory.

  • Investments in renewable energy have pushed the startup's finances into green, attracting more investors.

Synonyms

in the black
vsin green
14 5.5

Having more money than you owe

focuses on an account or investment showing a positive balance

Antonyms

in the red
20 4.9

Having less money than you owe

How Profitable

lucrative
108 5.6
profitable
184 3.8
in green
  • Specialized
4 6.0
to break even
36 3.3
in the red
20 4.9

Surface Forms

in green positive

Morphology

in + green

The financial sense 'showing a profit' is not directly derivable from the literal constituents 'in' (position) + 'green' (here given as ecological/colour), so a B1 learner who only knows those words would not predict this meaning. This is an idiomatic, culture-specific colour-coding in finance (compare 'in the green' vs. 'in the red'), making the expression unpredictable without prior exposure.

Etymology

In green comes from how money and stock numbers are shown: good results are often written or lit in green, while losses are shown in red. So when something is in green, it means 'showing a profit or a positive balance'.