lucrative

lucrative — adjective

1. A job, deal, or activity that is lucrative gives you a large sum of money, espec

1.adjectiveB2
Definition

A job, deal, or activity that is lucrative gives you a large sum of money, especially compared with the time or cost you put into it.

Example

After years of hard work, Aarav's small shop grew into a lucrative business.

collocation: lucrative business

Teaching English online can be a lucrative career for those with the right qualifications.

collocation: lucrative career

Common collocations
  • lucrative business
  • lucrative contract
  • lucrative deal
  • lucrative career
  • lucrative market
  • lucrative investment
  • lucrative opportunity
Synonyms
  • profitable

    broader term; can mean any positive return, while lucrative implies large returns

  • moneymaking

    informal; focuses on income generation rather than large profit margins

  • gainful

    almost exclusively used with 'employment'; emphasizes that work pays, not that it pays well

Antonyms
  • unprofitable

    direct opposite — not making enough money to cover costs

  • loss-making

    stronger opposite — actively losing money rather than failing to earn much

Grammar Patterns

lucrative + noun

be/become + lucrative

find + noun + lucrative

Usage Note

Stronger in tone than profitable — lucrative always implies earnings that are notably large, not just positive. Commonly modifies nouns related to business or finance: contract, deal, market, investment, opportunity.

Common Mistakes

She found a lucrative hobby that just covers its costs.
She found a profitable hobby that just covers its costs.
'lucrative' suggests notably large earnings; for activities that only make a small profit, 'profitable' is more suitable.

Word family

  • lucratively
    adverbC1
  • lucrativeness
    nounC2

Synonym discussion

Sense: adjective/1

Profitable is the broadest term, simply meaning that something generates a financial return — even a small one. Lucrative is much stronger, always implying notably large earnings. Moneymaking is informal and puts the focus on income generation rather than profit margin. Gainful is restricted almost entirely to the phrase 'gainful employment' and emphasises that the work pays, not that it pays well. Fruitful can be used metaphorically (a fruitful discussion) whereas lucrative is always about money. For example: 'Her small bakery is profitable, but only the wholesale contracts are truly lucrative.'

profitable ↗moneymakinggainfulfruitful

Common collocations

Nouns

Adverbs

  • highly lucrative
  • extremely lucrative
  • increasingly lucrative

Phrases

  • prove lucrative
  • turn something into a lucrative [business]

Prepositions

  • lucrative for

Etymology

LatinFrenchEnglish

Lucrative comes from Latin lucrativus, from lucratus, the past participle of lucrari meaning 'to gain'. The root lucrum means 'profit' or 'gain' and is also the source of the English word 'lucre'. The word entered English in the early 1500s and has always carried the idea of substantial financial reward.