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profitless

profitless

1 5.5
Not making money or giving any useful result
  • adjective
  • /ˈprɒfɪtləs/
translation icon : infructuoso
  • These speculations are profitless.

Examples

  • "I shall naturally tell all if I am paid enough." "In that case," said Reith, "our conversation must deal in pleasantries, profitless to both of us."

    Fiction book (1993)
  • His profitless cattle business forced him to change careers after years of struggle.

  • We are not suggesting that psychopharmacological research is profitless and ought to be abandoned.

    Academic text (1995)
  • So there's a lot of pain in these more profitless riskier sections and and that is normal.

  • "Google wants ISPs to cap neither, becoming profitless conduits..."

    Blog text (13)
  • But Google wants ISPs to cap neither, becoming profitless conduits for the advertising and spying that make it billions.

    Blog text (13)
  • In the process of extricating America from two of the longest and most profitless wars in its history, President Barack Obama will go to great lengths to avoid getting America into another one.

    Blog text (22)
  • Profitless prosperity is the way Mark Osborne, Senior News Editor at PV-Tech.org, characterizes the PV manufacturing supply chain at the moment.

    Blog text (24)
  • The committee's lengthy discussions proved profitless, leading them to start over.

  • Investing in that startup turned out to be a profitless endeavor for most investors.

Synonyms

unprofitable
vsprofitless
11 4.9

Not making money for a person or business

is broader, also meaning useless or without benefit
valueless
vsprofitless
5 3.6

Not worth anything or useful

is about no profit or benefit, not only lacking worth
uneconomic
vsprofitless
2 6.7

Not making enough money to be worth doing

stresses lack of profit but focuses less on efficiency
good-for-nothing
vsprofitless
  • Offensive
2 6.8

Not useful or worth much

refers to lack of profit or benefit rather than personal failure
noneconomic
vsprofitless
1 5.5

Not about money, trade, or profit but about other values

means not producing profit or benefit, not just unrelated to money
nonprofitable
vsprofitless
4.9

Not making a profit or giving useful results

focuses on lack of profit or usefulness rather than general worth
unremunerative
vsprofitless
9.3

Work that does not pay or make a profit

is about lack of profit or benefit not only payment
good-for-naught
vsprofitless
  • Offensive
9.9

Not useful and having little value

focuses on financial or useful benefit, not moral worth

Antonyms

191 3.8

Makes more money than it costs

How Profitable

lucrative
105 5.6
profitable
191 3.8
unprofitable
11 4.9
profitless
1 5.5

Surface Forms

profitless positive

Morphology

profitless = profit (transparent) = profit + less

Standard adjectival formation from the noun 'profit' with the productive suffix '-less', meaning 'without profit'.

Etymology

The word profitless is made from profit ('gain') and the ending -less ('without'). It means 'without gain' and describes something that does not give money or any useful result.