profiteering

noun prof·i·teer·ing \ ˌprä-fə-ˈtir-iŋ \

Updated on: 10 Apr 2018

Definition of profiteering

: the act or activity of making an unreasonable profit on the sale of essential goods especially during times of emergency

… investigations unearthed information about industrial profiteering during the First World War …
—Thomas E. Ricks

The real estate culture in Florida had pushed profiteering to new levels, in large part because of its condominium economy.
—Paul Reyes

See profiteering defined for English-language learners

Recent Examples of profiteering from the Web

The country has an anti-corruption watchdog, the Commission of Integrity, but that too is said to have succumbed to factional profiteering.

— The Economist, "Fifteen years after America’s invasion, Iraq is getting back on its feet," 28 Mar. 2018
Locals have long been frustrated with Eastern Ghouta's rebel factions, which stand accused of profiteering and authoritarian rule, but this was unprecedented.

— chicagotribune.com, "Assad's divide-and-conquer strategy is working," 28 Mar. 2018
Even as the economy was sinking, one business model was on the rise: profiteering from political polarization.

— paul thornton, latimes.com, "1990s California would have been kinder to Trump," 17 Mar. 2018
To the consternation of the Ukrainian leader, though, the conflict with pro-Russian separatists is slowly mutating in the public mind from a heroic struggle into yet another sinkhole of profiteering and graft.

— andrew higgins, New York Times, "In Ukraine, Corruption Is Now Undermining the Military," 19 Feb. 2018
To her point, reality television has largely evolved past the kind of personality profiteering and audiences are savvier about how people get on camera.

— michael o'connell, The Hollywood Reporter, "'American Idol': Don't Expect Bad Auditions on the ABC Version," 8 Jan. 2018
And the last line of defense, a financial penalty that takes the profit out of this profiteering, doesn't seem even to exist anymore.

— michael hiltzik, latimes.com, "A slap on CashCall's wrist signals there's no downside to deceiving borrowers," 26 Jan. 2018
More than a decade ago, at the height of the dot-com boom, the market for initial public offerings was exposed as a den of conflicts and profiteering that was due for change.

— Bloomberg.com, "Machines Are Encroaching on Bond Markets’ Last Line of Resistance," 19 Jan. 2018
This would follow a growing trend in dealing with the hottest of hot tickets in an industry tainted by years of profiteering by ticket brokers.

— théoden janes, charlotteobserver, "Your ‘Hamilton’ tickets might need to be paperless, Blumenthal says, to avoid scams," 11 Jan. 2018

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