profiteering

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

|Updated on: 4 Jun 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

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
The incident caused public outrage at the employees’ alleged profiteering as well as at insufficient safeguards to prevent this kind of thing happening.

— The Economist, "Politicians’ battle against Korean conglomerates hits a snag," 26 Apr. 2018
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

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.