exploitation
n. C / Un. using a situation or a person in an unfair way to get what you want. It can also mean making the most of a resource, like land or oil, to make money.
n. the action of treating someone unfairly in order to benefit from their work; also the productive use of resources. Often carries a pejorative connotation in social contexts but a neutral, technical one in industrial or economic contexts.
The company was accused of the exploitation of its workers.
New laws were introduced to prevent the exploitation of young athletes by unscrupulous sports agents.
The sustainable exploitation of natural resources requires a delicate balance between immediate economic gain and the long-term preservation of the local ecosystem.
Borrowed from French exploitation, from exploiter (“exploit”), from Latin explicō (“unfold, deploy”).
Uncountable when referring to the general concept of unfair treatment; countable when referring to specific instances or methods of resource use.
the exploitation to workersthe exploitation of workersThe noun exploitation is followed by the preposition 'of' to indicate the person or group being treated unfairly.