Meaning & use
profiling
Last updated
the act of analyzing a person's characteristics or behavior to assess or predict something about them, especially in law enforcement or marketing.
See it in a sentence
The detective relied on criminal profiling to narrow down the list of suspects.
Critics argue that racial profiling by police unfairly targets minority communities.
A note on using this word
Can be neutral (marketing or criminal investigation) or highly controversial, as in 'racial profiling,' where it refers to unfairly targeting people based on race.
Words with a similar meaning
Choose a synonym to suit the sentence. Meanings can overlap without being identical.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “profiling”, then compare your use with the examples above.
Your draft stays on this page and is not sent anywhere.