profitable

Compared meaning: giving good economic benefit or profit (adjective).

比较义项：划算、能带来经济利益或利润（形容词）。

• economic

  Means cost-effective or worth the expense from a buyer's or user's point of view, not that a business itself is earning money; often follows 'not' and modifies actions or decisions rather than businesses.

  从购买者或使用者的角度看，表示某样东西划算、值得花这笔钱，而不是指某门生意本身在赚钱；常与“不”连用，用来形容做法、决定或行为是否合算，而不用来形容生意。

  Buying in bulk turned out to be more economic than buying single items every week.

  整箱购买结果证明比每周单件购买更划算。

• profitable 本词

  Describes a business, venture or activity that earns money above its costs; the most general and neutral of the three, covering any level of profit, large or small.

  指某项生意、事业或活动能赚到超过成本的钱，是三者中最普通、最中性的说法，可以用于盈利多少的任何程度。

  After a slow start, the food truck finally became profitable last spring.

  经过缓慢的起步，这家餐车终于在去年春天开始盈利。

• lucrative

  Emphasizes a large, often enviable amount of profit; typically describes jobs, deals, contracts or careers, with a stronger, more impressed tone than profitable.

  强调利润非常丰厚、令人羡慕，通常用来形容工作、交易、合同或事业，语气比 profitable 更强烈、更引人注目。

  He turned down his teaching job for a far more lucrative career in finance.

  他放弃了教师工作，转而从事一份利润丰厚得多的金融行业工作。

All three mean giving good economic benefit. Economic means worth the cost of an action, not a profitable business (not comparing 'related to the economy', as in economic problems). Profitable simply means a business earns money. Lucrative means very high profit, for jobs or deals.

这三个词都可以形容“划算、能带来经济利益”，但语气和用法不同：economic 侧重“值不值得这笔花费”，常用来形容做法、决定或行为是否合算，而不是形容生意本身在赚钱；profitable 是最普通、最中性的说法，泛指生意或活动能盈利；lucrative 则强调利润非常丰厚、令人羡慕，常用于工作、合同、事业等。这里不比较 economic 的“与经济有关的”这一常见义项，例如 economic problems（经济问题）。