exploitative

adjective ex·ploit·ative \ ik-ˈsplȯi-tə-tiv , ek-ˌsplȯi- \

|Updated on: 12 Jun 2018

Definition of exploitative

: exploiting or tending to exploit; especially : unfairly or cynically using another person or group for profit or advantage

exploitative terms of employment

an exploitative film

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exploitatively

adverb

Recent Examples of exploitative from the Web

As exploitative a culture as the music industry can be, we, as fans and consumers, are the other half to the equation.

— refinery29.com, "A Very Frank Conversation With Lily Allen," 8 June 2018
With a sensitive touch that makes every face, tree and ray of light come alive, Ms. Rohrwacher creates a textured, vibrant portrait of a lost world that is at once emotionally sustaining and grossly exploitative.

— manohla dargis, New York Times, "The Best and Worst of Cannes, Maybe Coming to a Theater Near You," 17 May 2018
That dilemma has become especially relevant over the last year, as YouTube has faced one advertiser revolt after another, over everything from inappropriate videos to exploitative children's content.

— natalie jarvey, The Hollywood Reporter, "YouTube CEO Calls Demonetizing Logan Paul's Channel "A Pretty Strong Statement"," 13 Feb. 2018
Three women who have filed lawsuits in different states charge that surrogacy contracts are exploitative to birth mothers, create a class of women as breeders and commodify children.

— paige winfield cunningham, Washington Post, "The Health 202: There's a fight brewing between the Trump administration and drugmakers," 17 May 2018
If premiums are too high, companies might look exploitative.

— The Economist, "China tries to lure its tech firms into listing at home," 10 May 2018
Its opponents say that capitalism is, by nature, exploitative, and leads to a brutally divided society that tramples the working classes in favor of fattening the rich’s wallets.

— kim kelly, Teen Vogue, "What “Capitalism” Is and How It Affects People," 11 Apr. 2018
The battle for market share being fought on the feet of promising basketball players is a multi-billion-dollar business that has generally treated NCAA rules as archaic, exploitative and easily circumvented.

— tim sullivan, The Courier-Journal, "Rice's commission may want to take advantage of Skechers suing Adidas," 11 May 2018
Before Hughes, fictional portrayals of teens in TV or film were either corny or exploitative, and overwhelmingly male.

— kristen bellstrom, Fortune, "Molly Ringwald, Tony Robbins, Sheryl Sandberg: Broadsheet April 9," 9 Apr. 2018

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'exploitative.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.