Unprofitable

Definition: Unprofitable

Unprofitable

Adjective

1. Producing little or no profit or gain; "deposits abandoned by mining companies as unprofitable".

2. Not worth using.

3. Without profit or reward; "let us have no part in profitless quarrels"- D.D.Eisenhower; "How weary, flat, stale, and unprofitable / Seem to me all the uses of this world"- Shakespeare.

Date "unprofitable" was first used in popular English literature: sometime before 1350. (references)

Synonyms: Unprofitable

Synonyms: inutile (adj), profitless (adj). (additional references)

Antonym: profitable (adj). (additional references)

Context	Synonyms within Context (source: adapted from Roget's Thesaurus).
Inexpedience	Unadvisable; (inexpedient); unprofitable; (useless); incompetent; (unskillful); irremediable; (hopeless).
	Ill-contrived, ill-advised; unsatisfactory; unprofitable; unsubservient; (useless); inopportune; (unseasonable); out of place, in the wrong place; improper, unseemly.
Inutility	Vain, empty, inane; gainless, profitless, fruitless; unserviceable, unprofitable; ill-spent; unproductive; hors de combat; effete, past work; (impaired); obsolete; (old); fit for the dust hole; good for nothing; of no earthly use; not worth having, not worth powder and shot; leading to no end, uncalled for; unnecessary, unneeded.
Unproductiveness	Adjective: unproductive, acarpous, inoperative, barren, addled, infertile, unfertile, unprolific, arid, sterile, unfruitful, infecund; sine prole; fallow; teemless, issueless, fruitless; unprofitable; (useless); null and void, of no effect.
Source: adapted from Roget's Thesaurus.

Crosswords: Unprofitable

English words defined with "unprofitable": Disprofitable ♦ Frustraneous ♦ Gainless ♦ Improfitable, In idle, Infecundous, Infructuose ♦ Land-poor ♦ Mateology, Mateotechny, mug's game ♦ profitless ♦ Seck. (references)

Specialty definitions using "unprofitable": Fiddle About ♦ Gavel ♦ Inundation ♦ Legs ♦ MANAGER, SALES, MANAGER, SCHEDULE PLANNING, Memorandum ♦ Ransom, Revival ♦ Street-poster ♦ Tape, Turpentine. (references)

Domain	Usage
Movie/TV Titles	The Unprofitable Boarder (1913)
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits.

Domain	Title
Books	Gillig's Guide to turning unprofitable real estate into money-makers (reference) Unprofitable Railway Companies in England and Wales 1845-1923, With Special Reference to the South Midlands (Outstanding Theses from the London school (reference) Unprofitable servants : conferences on humility (reference) (more book examples)
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits.

Thumbnail	Description & Credit
	Rusting combines testify to unprofitable years of wheat farming in central Oregon. Credit: Library of Congress.
Source: pictures compiled by the editor from various references; see picture credits.

Author	Quotation
James F. Cooper	Party leads to vicious, corrupt and unprofitable legislation, for the sole purpose of defeating party.
William Shakespeare	O God, O God, how weary, stale, flat, and unprofitable seem to me all the uses of this world!
Source: compiled by the editor from various references.

Title	Author	Quote
A Christmas Carol	Dickens, Charles	A very, very brief time, and you will dismiss the recollection of it, gladly, as an unprofitable dream, from which it happened well that you awoke.
Scarlet Letter	Hawthorne, Nathaniel	Meanwhile, they shall be at the command of any gentleman, inclined, and competent, to take the unprofitable labour off my hands.
Source: compiled by the editor from various references.

Subject	Topic	Quote
Business		To date, almost all-rural local loops are unprofitable. (references)
		Third, the system does not include subsidies to cover the cost of unprofitable connections. (references)
		Government strategies for achieving that goal include large-scale privatization of unprofitable state-owned enterprises and the layoff of workers. (references)
Economic History	Ukraine	Almost all rural local loops are unprofitable. (references)
	Dominican Rep	Most of the state enterprises are unprofitable. (references)
	Lithuania	Services are being expanded into unprofitable rural areas of the country. (references)
Political Economy	Algeria	Noncompetitive and unprofitable state enterprises constitute the bulk of the nonhydrocarbon industrial sector. (references)
	CHINA	Short-term bank loans primarily to (often unprofitable) SOEs accounted for about 60 percent of total outstanding lending in 2001, and government controls over interest rates as well as policy directives channeling bank credit to preferred industries and enterprises remained in effect. (references)
Trade	Ukraine	Implementation of economic restructuring of the coal sector including corporatization, price, trade and export liberalization, decommissioning of unprofitable mines and investment into profitable corporatized mines, social mitigation. (references)
Lexicography	Devil's Dictionary	RANSOM, n. The purchase of that which neither belongs to the seller, nor can belong to the buyer. The most unprofitable of investments.
Source: compiled by the editor from ICON Group International, Inc.; see credits.

Speaker	Term	Phrase(s)
Grover Cleveland	1885-1889; 1893-1897	All discussion as to their fitness for the place accorded to them as American citizens is idle and unprofitable except as it suggests the necessity for their improvement.
Jimmy Carter	1977-1981	Federal assistance cannot mean permanent subsidies for unprofitable operations.
Source: compiled by the editor from various references.

"Unprofitable" is generally used as an adjective (general or positive) -- approximately 99.40% of the time. "Unprofitable" is used about 166 times out of a sample of 100 million words spoken or written in English. Its rank is based on over 700,000 words used in the English language. Some parts-of-speech are not covered due to the samples used by the British National Corpus. (note: percents less than one-hundredth of one percent have been omitted)

Parts of Speech	Percent	Usage per 100 Million Words	Rank in English
Adjective (general or positive)	99.4%	165	24,305
Noun (proper)	0.6%	1	339,140
Total	100.00%	166	N/A

Expression using "unprofitable": unprofitable business. Additional references.
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits.

Language		Translations for "unprofitable"; alternative meanings/domain in parentheses.
Albanian		jorentabël, jofitimprurës, i paleverdishëm. (various references)

Arabic		‏غير مكسب, ‏غير مريح (disadvantageous, ill at ease, inconvenient, uncomfortable), ‏عديم الجدوى (inutile, useless, worthless). (various references)

Bulgarian		нерентабилен, неизгоден (disadvantageous, unremunerative), недоходен (lean, marginal, unremunerative), напразен (idle, nugatory, pointless, unavailing, useless, vain). (various references)

Chinese		� 利益. (various references)

Czech		nevýnosný, neužiteèný (inutile, useless), nerentabilní, nemající smysl. (various references)

Danish		urentabel. (various references)

Dutch		niet-renderend. (various references)

Farsi		غیرقابل استفاده , بی سود, بی ثمر (Abortive, Barren, Gaunt, Unfruitful). (various references)

Finnish		tuottamaton (unproductive), kannattamaton (uneconomic, unremunerative), epäedullinen (disadvantageous, unfavourable). (various references)

French		peu rentable (uneconomical), peu profitable, non rentable. (various references)

German		unrentabel, unnütz (idle, pointless, unprofitably, useless, valueless, wasteful), ohne Profit. (various references)

Greek		μη αποδοτικός, χωρίσ κέρδοσ, ασύμφοροσ (impolitic, inexpedient, unadvisable, uneconomic), αντιπαραγωγικός (counterproductive). (various references)

Hungarian		nem jövedelmezõ. (various references)

Indonesian		tak menguntungkan. (various references)

Italian		non redditizio, infruttuoso (fruitless, poor, unfruitful, unsuccessful, useless, vain). (various references)

Japanese Kanji		不為 (disadvantageous, harmful). (various references)

Japanese Katakana		ふため (disadvantageous, for a second time, harmful). (various references)

Pig Latin		ofitableunpray

Portuguese		não rentável. (various references)

Romanian		nerentabil (hungry), neprofitabil, inutil (addle, beside the purpose, bootless, effete, excrescent, fruitless, idle, nugatory, pathetic, pathetically, superfluous, unavailing, unfruitful, unnecessary, useless, uselessly, vain, wasteful, worthless). (various references)

Russian		невыгодный (disadvantaged, disadvantageous, disadventageous, thriftless, unbeneficed, unbeneficial, unremunerative), не приносящий прибыли, бесполезный (abortive, bootless, fatuous, feckless, fiddling, fruitless, futile, good for nothing, idle, inutile, naught, needless, nugatory, of no avail, otiose, unavailing, unhelpful, useless, valueless, virtueless). (various references)

Serbo-Croatian		neunosan (profitless, unfruitful, ungainly), neprofitan, beskoristan (otiose, profitless, unnecessary, useless, worthless). (various references)

Spanish		improductivo (idle, non-producing, non-yielding, profitless, unproductive). (various references)

Swedish		olönsam (uneconomic), ofruktbar (arid, barren, infertile, jejune, otiose, unfertile, unfruitful, unproductive), inte vinstgivande. (various references)

Turkish		verimsiz (abortive, barren, emaciated, fruitless, idle, ineffectual, inefficacious, inefficient, infertile, jejune, lean, poor, sterile, thin, unfruitful, unproductive, unthrifty), kârsız (gainless, profitless, unremunerative), kâr etmeyen (nonprofit, non-profit, unproductive), faydasız (barren, bootless, fruitless, ineffectual, inefficacious, it's no go, it's no use, no good, nugatory, profitless, unavailing, unobliging, unusable, useless, vain, void), boş (airy, barren, blank, bootless, captious, chimerical, desert, disengaged, empty, expressionless, fallacious, flat, for hire, free, frivolous, frothy, futile, gaseous, hollow, idle, inane, ineffective, ineffectual, invalid, leisure, meaningless, nugatory, null, pointless, puerile, punk, purposeless, spare, tenantless, thin, trumpery, unbuilt, unbuilt-on, unengaged, unfounded, unoccupied, unrecorded, unwritten-on, vacant, vacuous, vain, void, waste, windy, wishywashy, without any foundation, without foundation, yeasty). (various references)

Ukrainian		непромисловий (non-technical), неприбутковий (non-profit). (various references)

Vietnamese		vô ích không sinh lợi, không có lời (uneconomic, unpayable), không có lợi (inexpedient, profitless, unbeneficial, unremunerative). (various references)

Welsh		di-fudd (futile, useless), anfuddiol, anelw (loss), aflesol (disadvantageous). (various references)
Source: compiled by the editor from various translation references.

Language	Period	Translations
Latin	500 BCE-Modern	inutile, inutilem, inutiles, inutilia, inutilis, sterilem, steriles, sterili, sterilis. (various references)
Source: compiled by the editor from various references.

Language	Date	Source	Matthew Chapter 25, Verse 30
Greek (transliterated)	250 BC	Septuagint	Kai ton acreion doulon ekballete eiV to skotoV to exwteron ekei estai o klauqmoV kai o brugmoV twn odontwn
Latin	405	Vulgate	Et inutilem servum eicite in tenebras exteriores illic erit fletus et stridor dentium
Old English	990	West Saxon	Awurpað þanne unnyttan þeowan onþa utran þeostran. þær beoð wop. & toþegristbitunge.
Middle English	1395	Wyclif	And caste ye out the vnprofitable seruaunt in to vtmer derknessis; ther schal be wepyng, and gryntyng of teeth.
Renaissance English	1526	Tyndale	And cast yt vnprofitable servaunt into vtter dercknes: there shalbe wepynge and gnasshinge of teeth.
Jacobean English	1611	King James	And cast ye the unprofitable servant into outer darkness: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.
Victorian English	1833	Webster	And cast ye the unprofitable servant into utter darkness: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.
Basic English	1964	Ogden	And put out the servant who is of no profit into the outer dark: there will be weeping and cries of sorrow.
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits.

Language	Matthew Chapter 25, Verse 30
Cebuano	Ug ilabay ninyo ang walay pulos nga ulipon ngadto sa labawng kangitngitan sa gowa; didto ang mga tawo managpanghilak ug managkagot sa ilang mga ngipon.`
Chinese	把這無 �"� 的僕人、丟在外面黑暗裡．在那裡必要 �"� �"� 切 �' 了。
Croatian	A beskorisnoga slugu izbacite van u tamu. Ondje æe biti plaè i škrgut zubi.'"
Danish	Og kaster den unyttige Tjener ud i Mørket udenfor; der skal der være Gråd og Tænders Gnidsel.
Dutch	En werpt den onnutten dienstknecht uit in de buitenste duisternis; daar zal wening zijn en knersing der tanden.
Finnish	Ja heittäkää tuo kelvoton palvelija ulos pimeyteen; siellä on oleva itku ja hammasten kiristys.`
German	Und den unnützen Knecht werft hinaus in die Finsternis; da wird sein Heulen und Zähneklappen.
Hungarian	És a haszontalan szolgát vessétek a külsõ sötétségre; ott lészen sírás és fogcsikorgatás.
Indonesian-Bahasa Sehari-hari	Dan pelayan yang tidak berguna itu, buanglah dalam kegelapan di luar. Di sana ia akan menangis dan menderita!'"
Indonesian-Terjemahan Lama	maka hamba yang tiada berguna itu, buangkanlah ke dalam gelap yang di luar; di sanalah kelak tangisan dan kertak gigi."
Italian	E il servo fannullone gettatelo fuori nelle tenebre; l� sar� pianto e stridore di denti.
Latvian	Bet nelietîgo kalpu izmetiet ârçjâs tumsîbâs; tur bûs raudâðana un zobu grieðana.
Manx Gaelic	As tilg-jee yn charvaant neu-harroogh ayns y dorraghys sodjey-mooie: ayns shen vees keayney as snaggeraght feeacklyn.
Maori	Na maka te pononga huakore ki te pouri i waho: ko te wahi tera o te tangi, o te tetea o nga niho.
Norwegian	Og kast den unyttige tjener ut i mørket utenfor! Der skal være gråt og tenners gnidsel.
Portuguese	E lançai o servo inútil nas trevas exteriores; ali haverá choro e ranger de dentes.
Rumanian	Iar pe robul acela netrebnic, aruncayi -l kn kntunerecul de afarq: acolo va fi plknsul wi scrkwnirea dinyilor.
Russian	Б ОЕЗП�"ОПЗП ТБ�'Б ЧЩ�'ТПУШФЕ ЧП ФШНХ ЧОЕЫОАА: ФБН �'Х�"ЕФ � МБЮ Й УЛТЕЦЕФ ЪХ�'ПЧ. уЛБЪБЧ УЙЕ, ЧПЪЗМБУЙМ: ЛФП ЙНЕЕФ ХЫЙ УМЩЫБФШ, �"Б УМЩЫЙФ!
Shuar	Ju umichu shuarsha aa kiritniunam ajapatarum. Nui ti Wáitiak ti uuttiatui" timiai". Tu áujmatsamiayi Jesus.
Spanish	Al siervo inútil echadlo en las tinieblas de afuera." Allí habrá llanto y crujir de dientes.
Swahili	Na kuhusu huyu mtumishi asiye na faida, mtupeni nje gizani! Huko kutakuwa na kilio na kusaga meno.`
Swedish	Och kasten den oduglige tjänaren ut i mörkret härutanför.' Där skall vara gråt och tandagnisslan.
Uma	Pai' pahawaa' to uma motuju tetui, petadi-imi hi mali-na hi kabengia-na. Hi ria-i ntora geo' pai' ntodohaka.'
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits.

Derivations
	Words beginning with "unprofitable": unprofitableness, unprofitablenesses. (additional references)
Source: compiled by the editor, based on several corpora (additional references).

# of Phoneme Matches	Pronunciation	Word(s) rhyming with "unprofitable" (pronounced unprÄ"futubul)
10	-p r Ä" f u t u b u l	profitable.
7	-f u t u b u l	forfeitable.
6	-u t u b u l	attributable, charitable, creditable, disreputable, equitable, habitable, heritable, imitable, indomitable, inequitable, inevitable, inheritable, inhospitable, inimitable, irritable, marketable, palatable, reputable, uninhabitable, unpalatable, veritable.
5	-t u b u l	acceptable, accountable, adaptable, adjustable, adoptable, collectible, comfortable, compatible, constable, contemptible, contestable, convertible, copyrightable, countable, debatable, deductible, delectable, detectable, digestible, discountable, eatable, electable, excitable, exportable, forgettable, harvestable, hospitable, immutable, imperceptible, implantable, incompatible, incontrovertible, indestructible, indisputable, inexhaustible, inflatable, injectable, inscrutable, insupportable, insurmountable, interruptible, intractable, investable, irrefutable, irresistible, lamentable, nonconvertible, nondeductible, notable, patentable, perceptible, portable, potable, predictable, presentable, preventable, printable, prosecutable, quotable, redoubtable, regrettable, rentable, repeatable, reportable, resettable, respectable, retractable, suggestible, suitable, supportable, susceptible, tractable, transmittable, transportable, treatable, unacceptable, unaccountable, unbeatable, uncollectible, uncomfortable, undetectable, unelectable, unforgettable, unpredictable, unprintable, unsuitable, unsupportable, vegetable.
4	-u b u l	abominable, accessible, achievable, actionable, addressable, admirable, admissible, adorable, advisable, affable, affordable, agreeable, allowable, amenable, amendable, amiable, amicable, analyzable, answerable, appealable, applicable, appreciable, approachable, approvable, arable, arguable, attainable, audible, available, avoidable, bankable, bearable, believable, billable, biodegradable, breakable, buildable, burnable, callable, cannibal, capable, changeable, chargeable, classifiable, collapsible, Combinable, commendable, communicable, comparable, compensable, comprehensible, conceivable, confirmable, considerable, consumable, controllable, credible, crucible, culpable, curable, defensible, definable, degradable, deliverable, demonstrable, dependable, deplorable, deployable, depreciable, describable, desirable, despicable, detachable, determinable, developable, disagreeable, discernible, discoverable, dishonorable, dispensable, disposable, distinguishable, divisible, doable, drinkable, drivable, durable, edible, eligible, Embraceable, employable, enforceable, enjoyable, enviable, equable, erasable, erodible, estimable, exchangeable, excludable, excusable, execrable, exercisable, expandable, expendable, explainable, extendable, extendible, fallible, fashionable, fathomable, favorable, feasible, fissionable, fixable, flammable, flexible, forcible, foreseeable, forgivable, formidable, fungible, fusible, gullible, hon, honorable, horrible, identifiable, illegible, imaginable, immiscible, immovable, impassable, impeachable, impeccable, impenetrable, impermissible, implacable, implausible, imponderable, impossible, impracticable, impregnable, impressionable, improbable, inaccessible, inadmissible, inadvisable, inalienable, inapplicable, inaudible, incalculable, incapable, incomparable, incomprehensible, incompressible, inconceivable, incorrigible, incredible, incurable, indefatigable, indefensible, indefinable, indelible, indescribable, indispensable, indistinguishable, indivisible, inedible, ineffable, ineligible, inescapable, inexcusable, inexorable, inexplicable, infallible, infeasible, inflammable, inflexible, innumerable, inoperable, insatiable, inseparable, insoluble, insufferable, intangible, intelligible, interchangeable, interminable, intolerable, invaluable, invincible, inviolable, invisible, invulnerable, irascible, irreconcilable, irremediable, irreparable, irreplaceable, irrepressible, irresponsible, irreversible, irrevocable, issuable, justifiable, knowledgeable, laudable, laughable, leasable, legible, liable, likable, likeable, livable, lovable, malleable, manageable, mandible, maneuverable, measurable, memorable, microwavable, miscible, miserable, moldable, movable, navigable, negligible, negotiable, noncallable, nondurable, nonrefundable, nonrenewable, nontaxable, nontransferable, noticeable, objectionable, observable, obtainable, operable, ostensible, palpable, parable, passable, payable, peaceable, perishable, permeable, permissible, personable, persuadable, pitiable, plausible, pleasurable, pliable, possible, practicable, preferable, probable, programmable, provable, punishable, questionable, reachable, readable, realizable, reasonable, receivable, rechargeable, recognizable, recordable, recoverable, recyclable, redeemable, reducible, refundable, reliable, remarkable, removable, renewable, repairable, repayable, replaceable, reprehensible, resealable, responsible, returnable, reusable, reversible, revocable, ridable, salable, saleable, salvageable, seasonable, sensible, serviceable, sizable, sizeable, sociable, soluble, solvable, spendable, submersible, survivable, sustainable, syllable, talkable, tangible, taxable, teachable, tenable, terrible, tolerable, traceable, tradable, tradeable, trainable, transferable, transferrable, tunable, typeable, unaffordable, unalienable, unalterable, unanswerable, unassailable, unattainable, unavailable, unavoidable, unbearable, unbelievable, unbuildable, unconscionable, uncontrollable, undeniable, understandable, undesirable, unemployable, unenforceable, unenviable, unexplainable, unfashionable, unfathomable, unfavorable, unfeasible, unflappable, unforeseeable, unforgivable, ungovernable, unimaginable, unimpeachable, uninsurable, unintelligible, unjustifiable, unknowable, unlivable, unmanageable, unmentionable, unmistakable, unobtainable, unquestionable, unreachable, unreadable, unreasonable, unrecognizable, unreliable, unremarkable, unsalable, unshakable, unsinkable, unsolvable, unspeakable, unstoppable, unsustainable, untenable, unthinkable, untouchable, untraceable, unusable, unverifiable, unwinnable, unworkable, usable, variable, venerable, verifiable, viable, visible, voluble, vulnerable, washable, wearable, winnable, workable.
3	-b u l	able, amble, assemble, babble, Babel, bauble, bible, bramble, bubble, Bumble, cable, cobble, coble, corbel, crumble, cymbal, dabble, Dibble, disable, disassemble, dissemble, double, Drabble, dribble, enable, enfeeble, ennoble, ensemble, fable, feeble, foible, fumble, gable, gamble, Garble, global, gobble, Gribble, grumble, hardscrabble, herbal, hobble, humble, ignoble, immeasurable, immobile, intertribal, jumble, kibble, label, libel, marble, mislabel, mobile, mumble, nibble, nimble, noble, nonverbal, pebble, preamble, psychobabble, quibble, rabble, ramble, reassemble, rebel, redouble, relabel, resemble, Roble, rouble, roundtable, rubble, Ruble, rumble, sable, Scrabble, scramble, scribble, shamble, Sibyl, squabble, Stabile, stable, stubble, stumble, symbol, table, thimble, timetable, treble, tremble, tribal, trouble, tubal, tumble, turntable, umbel, unable, unscramble, unserviceable, unstable, valuable, verbal, wamble, wobble.
Source: compiled by the editor (additional references); see credits.

Scrabble® Enable2K-Verified Anagrams
	Words within the letters "a-b-e-f-i-l-n-o-p-r-t-u"
	-2 letters: fluorinate, profitable.
	-3 letters: abruption, bluepoint, blueprint, flauntier, ibuprofen, printable, profluent, reflation, ultrafine.
	-4 letters: ablution, abutilon, antipole, atropine, auntlier, baritone, biforate, braunite, eruption, faultier, filature, fireboat, flatiron, flaunter, floatier, fluorine, fluorite, fraulein, inflater, inflator, interlap, laborite, lifeboat, obtainer, oriental, outfable, outlearn, outliner, panbroil, pantofle, partible, pelorian, petiolar, pinafore, portable, pourable, prunable, pubertal, relation, reobtain.
	Words containing the letters "a-b-e-f-i-l-n-o-p-r-t-u"
	+4 letters: unprofitableness.
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. SCRABBLE® is a registered trademark. All intellectual property rights in and to the game are owned in the U.S.A and Canada by Hasbro Inc., and throughout the rest of the world by J.W. Spear & Sons Limited of Maidenhead, Berkshire, England, a subsidiary of Mattel Inc. Mattel and Spear are not affiliated with Hasbro.