Make Your Point: LUCRATIVE

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pronounce LUCRATIVE:

LOO kruh tiv

connect this word to others:

Lucrative things, such as jobs and investments, are the kind that make money: they're profitable, high-paying, money-making, re___erative.

Can you recall that last synonym, re___erative? At its heart is the Latin munus, meaning "something given," and although it can simply mean "earning money from doing work," it can also mean "earning money in a sneaky way."

(To reveal any word with blanks, give it a click.)

definition:

Like I mentioned when we checked out the word "lucre," meaning "wealth that someone got through cruel, greedy behavior," the words "lucre" and "lucrative" trace back to the Latin word lucrum, which means "riches, wealth, or profits."

For hundreds of years in English, we've used "lucrative" to mean "earning money."

And often, we use it more specifically to mean "earning a lot of money."

grammatical bits:

Part of speech:

Adjective: "a lucrative business model;" "Their business model proved to be lucrative."

Other forms:

The adverb is "lucratively," and the noun, "lucrativeness."

Although there's also a verb, "lucrate," meaning "to make money," no one uses it these days.

how to use it:

Pick the formal, common word "lucrative" when you want to strike a serious tone as you point out how something makes money, and a lot of it.

You might talk about a lucrative job, post, promotion, product, business, or industry. "Sports betting is a lucrative business." "Passion projects don't need to be lucrative; they need to stir your soul."

examples:

"[The actor Russell Brand] is apparently entirely untrammeled by self-doubt, affianced to a gorgeous popstar, and milking a period in which misguided folk keep giving him lucrative movie roles."
  — Marina Hyde, The Guardian, 14 October 2010

"The 'tough-love industry' of wilderness camps and residential therapeutic programs for young people... is phenomenally lucrative. (Rosen cites one company, Universal Health Services Inc., with a behavioral health division with revenues of $3.4 billion.)"
  — Robert Kolker, New York Times, 11 January 2021

has this page helped you understand "lucrative"?

Awesome, I'm glad it helped!

Thanks for letting me know!
If you have any questions about this term, please message me at Liesl@HiloTutor.com.

study it:

Explain the meaning of "lucrative" without saying "cash-generating" or "fruitful."

try it out:

According to a discussion on Reddit, many lucrative jobs are actually rather horrible.

For example, one user reported working at a power plant, performing maintenance and earning $120,000 per year. "It’s dirty work, there's rats, and harmful heavy metals and chemicals in the ash but it pays really well."

Another user said that air traffic controllers, too, could draw a six-figure salary. "High-paying but very stressful."

And a third user said "Anything to do with insulation. The fiberglass gets under your skin no matter what."

Of those three jobs (power plant maintenance, air traffic control, and insulation), which job would you dislike the most—and exactly how lucrative would it have to be for you to take that job?

before you review, play:

Try to spend 20 seconds or more on the game below. Don’t skip straight to the review—first, let your working memory empty out.

Our game this month is "That's A New One!"

I'll define and describe an amusing term that Dictionary.com has recently embraced. See if you can come up with it, and if you need more hints, you can reveal them by highlighting the black bits. To see the answer, scroll all the way down.

Try this one today:

According to Dictionary.com, it's "the practice or state of marriage to one's self."

It entered English around the year 2015.

It's one word.

It's modeled after a similar-looking opposite word.

It starts with the letter... S.

Its number of syllables is...four.

Its first three letters are... SOL.

review this word:

1. Opposites of LUCRATIVE include

A. DARK and DISORIENTING.
B. COSTLY and UNPROFITABLE.
C. FRIENDLY and APPROACHABLE.

2. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, in 2025, some of the most lucrative careers were in the _____ field, with salaries around _____.

A. healthcare .. $239,000
B. public safety telecommunications .. $50,000
C. food and beverage serving .. $31,000

a final word:

I hope you're enjoying Make Your Point. It's made with love.

I'm Liesl Johnson, a reading and writing tutor on a mission to explore, illuminate, and celebrate words.

From my blog:
On vocabulary...
  36 ways to study words.
  Why we forget words, & how to remember them.
  How to use sophisticated words without being awkward.
On writing...
How to improve any sentence.
How to motivate our kids to write.
How to stop procrastinating and start writing.
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From my heart: a profound thanks to the generous patrons, donors, and sponsors that make it possible for me to write these emails. If you'd like to be a patron or a donor, please click here. If you'd like to be a sponsor and include your ad in an issue, please contact me at Liesl@HiloTutor.com.

A disclaimer: When I write definitions, I use plain language and stick to the words' common, useful applications. If you're interested in authoritative and multiple definitions of words, I encourage you to check a dictionary. Also, because I'm American, I stick to American English when I share words' meanings, usage, and pronunciations; these elements sometimes vary across world Englishes.

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