bottom-line

1 of 2

adjective

bot·​tom-line ˈbä-təm-ˌlīn 

1

: concerned only with cost or profits

2

: pragmatic, realistic

bottom-liner

ˈbä-təm-ˌlī-nər 

noun chiefly US, often disparaging

bottom line

2 of 2

noun

1

a

: the essential or salient point : crux

b

: the primary or most important consideration

2

a

: the line at the bottom of a financial report that shows the net profit or loss

b

: financial considerations (such as cost or profit or loss)

c

: the final result

Synonyms

Noun

• bull's-eye
• centerpiece
• core
• crux
• essence
• gist
• heart
• kernel
• keynote
• meat
• meat and potatoes
• net
• nub
• nubbin
• nucleus
• pith
• pivot
• point
• root
• sum

Examples of bottom-line in a Sentence

Noun

If our flight is late, we will miss our connection. That's the bottom line.

A student with special needs can stress a school's budget, but the bottom line is that the state must provide for the child's education.

How will these changes affect our bottom line?

He's always got his eye on the bottom line.

He says his bottom line is $120,000.

Recent Examples on the Web

Noun

Or so thinks Samsung Group, which is ordering its executives in South Korea to work a six days a week in a bid to raise its bottom line. —Rocio Fabbro, Quartz, 18 Apr. 2024

The level of campus support across the Pac-12 ranges dramatically and skews the bottom lines in the financial data schools must report to the NCAA each winter. —Jon Wilner, The Mercury News, 16 Apr. 2024

Other charts in the report suggest that this impact on the bottom line reflects efficiency gains and better worker productivity. —IEEE Spectrum, 15 Apr. 2024

That is particularly important for investors as Hollywood has seen the bottom line of its cable TV networks businesses, once the key growth drivers and profit centers of entertainment conglomerates, hit by cord-cutting and the growth of streaming. —Georg Szalai, The Hollywood Reporter, 8 Apr. 2024

The bottom line is the Heat can stay in control of its own destiny with a win on Sunday. —Anthony Chiang, Miami Herald, 6 Apr. 2024

Reddit and other IPOs could be great news for investors Amazon's new pharmacy won't do much for its bottom line, analyst says Does Novo Nordisk already have the next Ozempic? Can Boeing compete with Airbus? —Quartz, 3 Apr. 2024

The bottom line for any successful weight loss journey is to stay consistent. —Amber Smith, Discover Magazine, 3 Apr. 2024

But corporations aren’t the only ones riding high: The supercharged bottom line of America’s biggest companies may have helped boost the entire country’s economy, keeping people employed, and averting a recession. —Paolo Confino, Fortune, 1 Apr. 2024

Word History

First Known Use

Adjective

1968, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Noun

1830, in the meaning defined at sense 1a