loss-making
/ˈlɒs meɪkɪŋ/ (bre, ipa) · /ˈlɔːs meɪkɪŋ/ (ame, ipa)
loss-making — adjective
1. used to describe a business, product, or part of a company that spends more mone
used to describe a business, product, or part of a company that spends more money than it earns from its activities, so that it operates at a financial loss.
The group sold its loss-making retail division to focus on e-commerce.
collocation: loss-making + division
Several loss-making factories were shut down during the restructuring plan.
collocation: loss-making + factories
The state-owned airline has been loss-making for five straight years.
Investors urged the board to sell all loss-making units and cut costs.
- unprofitable
more general; can describe any activity or asset that does not yield a profit, not just a business unit
- in the red
informal idiom meaning the same; used in spoken business contexts and journalism
- money-losing
less formal than 'loss-making'; common in North American business writing
- profitable
the direct opposite; earning more money than is spent
- in the black
informal opposite idiom; indicates a positive financial result
文法句型
loss-making + noun (company, division, operation, year)
用法筆記
Most commonly used before a noun (attributive position) in business reports and news. Predicative use (e.g., 'the division is loss-making') is less frequent but acceptable; writers often prefer 'is operating at a loss' or 'is losing money' instead.