exploiting

Taking advantage of

Exploiting is making use of something for one's own benefit.

The word carries a range of moral weight depending on context.

Exploiting natural resources or market opportunities is neutral: The company is exploiting a gap in the market.

But exploiting people suggests taking unfair advantage of their vulnerability or labor: accused of exploiting undocumented workers.

The noun exploitation follows the same pattern.

manipulation

deceiving

Causing false belief

conning · taking advantage · using · abusing · victimizing · grooming · scamming · defrauding · swindling · tricking

advantage

leverage

Borrowed capital for amplified returns

ascendancy · control · gaining · capitalizing · profiting · outmaneuvering · maximizing · benefiting · optimizing · strategic

labor

sweatshop

Exploitative manufacturing workplace

forced labor · human trafficking · modern slavery · indentured servitude · migrant workers · garment workers · poverty wages · wage theft · unsafe conditions · bonded labor

resources

extraction

Act of removing

mining · drilling · fracking · logging · poaching · clear-cutting · overgrazing · strip-mining · trawling · whaling

technical

vulnerability

Openness to harm

  • bugCrawling creature or defect
  • zero-dayUnpatched security vulnerability
  • hackingInfiltrating protected digital systems

security flaw · breach · penetration · payload · backdoor · malware · cyberattack · injection · buffer overflow · privilege escalation

Categories
Opposites
fairness and reciprocity

exploitingreciprocating

Moving back and forth

giving back · cooperating · collaborating · partnering · mutual exchange

treatment of others

exploitingnurturing

Supportive care-giving

protecting · empowering · supporting · caring for · liberating

resource use

exploitingconserving

Protecting from depletion

preserving · sustaining · stewarding · replenishing · restoring

Family

exploit, exploited, exploitation, exploits, exploiter, exploitative, unexploited, overexploited, underexploited

Familiarity
Top 100,000
Profile
Used worldwide · Timeless · Abstract · Negative · Everyday, not technical · Rated PG