EN

Synonyms for unprofitable

  • adjective

Most common

loss-making useless futile fruitless ineffective unproductive unfruitful unserviceable

All synonyms

Adjective

loss-making, fruitless, futile, vain, useless, worthless, unfruitful, unproductive, ineffective, unserviceable, barren, idle, dead, unavailing, abortive, thankless, unremunerative, bootless, profitless, otiose, inexpedient, pointless, unsuccessful, ineffectual, sterile, improfitable dated

Antonyms

profitable, lucrative, gainful

All antonyms of unprofitable →

Definitions

  1. adj. 1

    Not making a profit.

    Being a professional poet is a nice job, albeit unprofitable.

Example sentences

  • useless There's nothing in here but a lot of useless junk.
  • futile When it comes to chocolate, resistance is futile.
  • fruitless After three fruitless attempts, he tried one last time.
  • ineffective Washing your hands without soap is ineffective work.
  • unproductive The meeting ended up being futile and unproductive.

Popularity over time

Word1850 → 2019Trend
unprofitablefalling
uselesssteady
futilesteady
fruitlesssteady
ineffectivesteady

Use in printed books, per decade from 1850 to 2019.

By length

4 letters
dead1, vain1, idle2
6 letters
futile2, barren2, otiose3
7 letters
useless2, sterile2
8 letters
abortive3, bootless
9 letters
pointless2, worthless2, fruitless2, thankless2
10 letters
unfruitful, unavailing4, profitless
11 letters
ineffective4, ineffectual5, inexpedient
12 letters
unsuccessful4, unproductive4, improfitable
13 letters
unserviceable5
14 letters
unremunerative

The small number after each word is its number of syllables (idle2 = 2 syllables).