for-profit

adjective

for-prof·​it ˈfȯr-ˈprä-fət 

: established, maintained, or conducted for the purpose of making a profit

for-profit businesses

Examples of for-profit in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Is the community nonprofit or for-profit, and is its funding stable? —Helen Dennis, Daily News, 1 Feb. 2026

The blueprint involves scaling back to a monthly publication and implementing a hybrid business model where the Reader reverts to a for-profit newspaper, backed by philanthropic support. —Robert Channick, Chicago Tribune, 30 Jan. 2026

The swing comes three months after OpenAI announced a restructuring that involved its for-profit arm becoming a public-benefit corporation. —Jordan Novet, CNBC, 28 Jan. 2026

In April, 2025, as deportations ramped up nationwide, the for-profit prison company CoreCivic repurposed a decommissioned prison in California City into an immigration detention center after signing a contract with ICE. —Oren Peleg, New Yorker, 28 Jan. 2026

Word History

First Known Use

1939, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for for-profit

• nonprofit
• profit
• prophet
• soffit

Kids Definition

for-profit

adjective

for-prof·​it

ˈfȯr-ˈpräf-ət

: existing or carried on for the purpose of making a profit

for-profit business