paper profit

noun

Apparent profit shown in accounts but not realized in an expendable form.

“The company had paper profits of two million dollars, but everyone knew that depreciation meant they had really lost 10 million.”

Opposite
paper loss
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Meanings

nounpaper profit (plural paper profits)

plural paper profits

  1. Apparent profit shown in accounts but not realized in an expendable form.

    The company had paper profits of two million dollars, but everyone knew that depreciation meant they had really lost 10 million.

Synonyms & antonyms

nounan unrealized gain on an investment calculated by subtracting the investor's cost from the current market price

Opposite
paper loss
Broader
gain

Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.

Cite this entry
APA

paper profit. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/paper%20profit

MLA

“paper profit.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/paper%20profit. Accessed November 4, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “paper profit,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/paper%20profit.

Source: paper profit on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.