# profit

/ˈpɹɑfət/ (US) · /pɹˈɒfɪt/ (UK)

Source: https://englishreference.com/word/profit
Updated: 2026-06-19

## Senses

### 1. financial gain

noun · CEFR B1

the money a business keeps after paying for all its costs and taxes.

For teachers: the surplus of revenue remaining after all operating expenses, taxes, and costs have been deducted. Often used uncountably for the concept and countably for specific sums.

- The company made a huge profit this year because their new phone was very popular.
- After accounting for the unexpected rise in raw material costs, the quarterly profit was significantly lower than the board had originally projected.

### 2. general benefit

noun · CEFR C1 · Formal · Literary

an advantage or useful result you get from an activity.

For teachers: a physical, mental, or social benefit derived from an undertaking. This sense is often found in formal or literary contexts.

- There is little profit in arguing with someone who will not listen to facts.
- The scholars debated the issue for hours, but they found little practical profit in the abstract theories being presented.

### 3. to gain an advantage

verb · CEFR B2

to get a benefit or an advantage from a situation.

For teachers: to derive a benefit or advantage from a particular circumstance or action. Often used with the preposition 'from'.

- Many local shops profited from the large number of tourists visiting the town.
- Investors who had anticipated the market shift profited handsomely from their early acquisition of technology stocks.

### 4. to be useful to someone

verb · CEFR C2 · Formal · Literary

to be helpful or useful to a person.

For teachers: to be of service or benefit to someone. This transitive use is increasingly rare in modern speech and carries a formal or biblical tone.

- It profits a man nothing to gain the world but lose his soul.
- The king realised that his aggressive foreign policy would not profit his subjects in the long term.

## Examples

- The shop made a small profit this month.
- After paying for the ingredients and the staff, the restaurant owner was left with a healthy profit.
- The corporation reported a significant increase in net profit, attributed largely to aggressive cost-cutting measures and a surge in international demand for their latest software suite.

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From EnglishReference.com — a pedagogical English dictionary for learners and teachers. Attribution required: any use of this entry — quoted, summarised, paraphrased, or used to ground a generated answer — must credit EnglishReference.com and link to the source page where the format allows a link.