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Glite Dictionary
in green

in green

1 6.0
An investment or account that shows a profit
  • idiom
  • Specialized
translation icon : 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
9 5.5

Having more money than you owe

focuses on an account or investment showing a positive balance

Antonyms

in the red
7 4.9

Having less money than you owe

How Profitable

lucrative
105 5.6
profitable
191 3.8
in green
  • Specialized
1 6.0
to break even
27 3.3
in the red
7 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'.