profiteering

noun

prof·i·teer·ing | \ ˌprä-fə-ˈtir-iŋ

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

Examples of profiteering in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

The author also plays down the war-profiteering of many of his barons. — Gregory Crouch, WSJ, "‘Civil War Barons’ Review: Entrepreneurs for the Union," 5 Nov. 2018 One potential ballot initiative gathering signatures in California would do just that by regulating profiteering off consumers' private data. — Christina Bellantoni, latimes.com, "The strangest things James Comey said in his ABC interview," 16 Apr. 2018 While Fiat Chrysler Automobiles ’ price-setters should be flogged for profiteering, the redesigned 2019 Ram 1500 does indeed set new benchmarks for pickup-truck refinement, cabin content, efficiency and enormity. — Dan Neil, WSJ, "A Luxury Truck Showdown: Ram 1500 vs. GMC Sierra," 11 Oct. 2018 Successive governments have failed to agree on a permanent solution for the chronic electricity failures, largely because of profiteering, endemic corruption and lack of political will. — Philip Issa, Fox News, "A goodwill gesture over electricity sows discord in Lebanon," 10 Aug. 2018 In place of pranks and profiteering are now exploitation, malice, fraud, racketeering, and warfare. — Virginia Heffernan, WIRED, "The Truth-Affirming Powers of a Good, Old-Fashioned Netflix Binge," 23 May 2018 Then there's all the profiteering that occurs in the shadows, seeking to exploit the insane complexity of the U.S. healthcare system and in so doing drive costs even higher. — David Lazarus, latimes.com, "Another downside to U.S. healthcare system: Way more opportunities for fraud," 6 Apr. 2018 The proposals raise obvious questions about war profiteering and conflicts of interest. — Emily Stewart, Vox, "Trump taps private equity billionaire for intelligence advisory role," 12 May 2018 Maisie’s investigation takes on heft from its underlying theme of war profiteering, with greedy entrepreneurs like Mike Yates exposing their employees to life-threatening working conditions just to make a buck. — Marilyn Stasio, New York Times, "Child Sleuths and Child Victims," 30 Mar. 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.