exploit

verb

ex·​ploit ik-ˈsplȯit  ˈek-ˌsplȯit 

exploited; exploiting; exploits

transitive verb

1

: to make productive use of : utilize

exploiting your talents

exploit your opponent's weakness

2

: to make use of meanly or unfairly for one's own advantage

exploiting migrant farm workers

exploited a tragedy for publicity

exploitability

ik-ˌsploi-tə-ˈbi-lə-tē 

noun

exploitable

ik-ˈsplȯi-tə-bəl 

adjective

exploiter noun

Synonyms of exploit

• use
• leverage
• manipulate
• abuse

Examples of exploit in a Sentence

He has never fully exploited his talents.

Top athletes are able to exploit their opponents' weaknesses.

She said the tragedy had been exploited by the media.

Recent Examples on the Web

How Lukashenko can exploit the EU-US split For Lukashenko, the benefit of the transatlantic split is concrete. —Tatsiana Kulakevich, The Conversation, 4 June 2026

But the idea that foreign influence is seeding a populist campaign against AI facilities is far-fetched, experts told Semafor last month, noting that Chinese media is instead likely exploiting existing US divisions over the tech. —J.d. Capelouto, semafor.com, 3 June 2026

Industry participants included SpaceX, Apple, Google, Coinbase, and Facebook’s parent Meta; fraudsters often exploit social media and internet services in impersonation schemes to prey on vulnerable US consumers. —Michael Kan, PC Magazine, 3 June 2026

So, New York must respond by trying to exploit the areas far in front of Wembanyama and sneakily behind him. —Fred Katz, New York Times, 3 June 2026

Word History

Etymology

Middle English espleiten, expleiten, expleten, esploiten "to facilitate, expedite (a journey), fulfill (a need), execute, complete, relate, explain," borrowed from Anglo-French espleiter, esploiter, exploiter "to carry out, achieve, promote, expedite, make use of, use unfairly, progress, succeed, act," probably going back to Vulgar Latin *explicitāre, repetitive derivative of Latin explicāre "to free from folds or creases, unroll, disentangle, spread out, bring into play, exercise" — more at explicate

Note: The Middle English form expleten suggests association with Latin explēre "to fill up, carry to completion, accomplish" (compare expletive entry 2). Latinizing variants with ex- have completely replaced earlier es- in both English and French. Earlier standard etymological dictionaries of French (Französisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, Bloch and Wartburg's Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française) see the noun as the more basic form, going back to *explicitum, allegedly formed from the neuter of the Latin past participle explicitus (see explicit)—though the sense of the noun is active, not passive. Romance outcomes of *explicitāre are mainly restricted to Gallo-Romance (as Old Occitan esplechar "to make use of, execute, accomplish") and Catalan (esplet "harvest," espletar "to harvest"). Note that *explicitāre preserves only the figurative meaning "bring into play, exercise" of the root word explicāre, out of which French and English have elaborated further meanings. The sense "relate, explain" of the Middle English verb is not paralleled in French and did not survive into Modern English.

First Known Use

1838, in the meaning defined at sense 2

Rhymes for exploit

• adroit
• introit
• boite
• droit

Kids Definition

exploit

1 of 2 noun

ex·​ploit ˈek-ˌsplȯit  ik-ˈsplȯit 

: a brave or daring act

exploit

2 of 2 verb

ex·​ploit ik-ˈsplȯit  ˈek-ˌsplȯit 

1

: to get value or use from

exploit your talents

exploit an opponent's weaknesses

2

: to make use of unfairly for one's own advantage

exploiting migrant farm workers

exploitable

-ə-bəl 

adjective

exploitation

ˌek-ˌsplȯi-ˈtā-shən

noun

exploiter

ik-ˈsplȯit-ər, 

ˈek-ˌsplȯit-

noun