profiteering

noun

prof·​i·​teer·​ing ˌprä-fə-ˈtir-iŋ How to pronounce profiteering (audio)
: 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
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
The speculative assets were immediately condemned by ethics experts as a profiteering effort and a conflict of interest. Vivienne Walt, New York Times, 25 Jan. 2025 The Trump Administration rode to victory by criticizing the high food prices of the Biden-Harris era, while not acknowledging the outsized role of corporate profiteering in these price hikes. Errol Schweizer, Forbes, 24 Mar. 2025 Ortenberg was an early champion of Moore, releasing in 2004 the Flint, Michigan firebrand’s Fahrenheit 9/11 — a connect-the-dots investigation of the George W. Bush presidency, the Iraq war, and corrupt wartime profiteering — which still stands as the highest-grossing documentary of all time. Chris Lee, Vulture, 20 Mar. 2025 However, these arrangements were not mere shakedowns; they were anchored in strategic diplomacy and geopolitical calculus, rather than vulgar profiteering. Ross Rosenfeld, Newsweek, 26 Feb. 2025 See All Example Sentences for profiteering

Word History

First Known Use

1814, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of profiteering was in 1814

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Cite this Entry

“Profiteering.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/profiteering. Accessed 14 May. 2025.

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