profiteering

noun

prof·​i·​teer·​ing ˌprä-fə-ˈtir-iŋ 

: 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

Examples of profiteering in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Unfortunately, the lessons of 2025 prove that a handful of sellout lawmakers will stop at nothing to clear the way for unchecked profiteering at the expense of Florida communities. —Orlando Sentinel Editorial Board, The Orlando Sentinel, 11 Jan. 2026

One devilish regime cracks with Maduro’s capture; gratuitous, imperial profiteering must not be allowed to empower another. —Anthony Dominguez, Sun Sentinel, 5 Jan. 2026

One of the solutions Butler proposes is to pay everyone involved in the war effort the same amount of money that a soldier makes, so there’s no profiteering. —The New Yorker, New Yorker, 17 Dec. 2025

This kind of profiteering has no place in a fair or effective criminal legal system. —Rebecca Wallace, Denver Post, 5 Sep. 2025

Word History

First Known Use

1814, in the meaning defined above

Phrases Containing profiteering

• anti-profiteering

Rhymes for profiteering

• commandeering
• disappearing
• domineering
• engineering
• interfering
• overhearing
• persevering
• pioneering
• privateering
• racketeering
• reappearing
• volunteering