ROI

8 synonyms and 1 antonym for ROI, grouped by meaning and by how common each one is.

Noun — A measure of how much money an investment has gained or lost compared with what it cost, normally written as a percentage of the original amount put in.

Synonyms

Everyday swaps

Common words most readers know — safe in any writing.

return benefit reward

Less common

Still standard English, but they carry more weight.

yield

Rare, literary or technical

Precise, but they will stand out — check the sense before using one.

return on investment rate of return payback payoff

Synonyms by Meaning

1. noun business

A measure of how much money an investment has gained or lost compared with what it cost, normally written as a percentage of the original amount put in.

“The shop refit cost £40,000 and brought in £50,000 of extra profit, an ROI of 25%.”

return on investment return yield rate of return payback

Opposites

loss

2. noun informal, business

More loosely, whatever is gained in exchange for any effort, time or money spent, even where no money is measured.

“Three days of training for one new client is a poor ROI on my time.”

payoff benefit reward

How to use ROI

The word patterns that sound natural to a native speaker.

measure ROI strong ROI negative ROI ROI on ad spend calculate the ROI

Standard in business, marketing and finance writing; the spelled-out form return on investment is more usual in formal reports.

Etymology

An initialism of return on investment.

Full origin of ROI →

Frequently asked questions

How is ROI calculated?

In its simplest form, ROI is the gain or loss from an investment divided by the amount originally invested, then expressed as a percentage. An investment of 1,000 that returns 1,150 has produced a gain of 150, or an ROI of 15%. The basic formula ignores how long the money was tied up, which is why longer projects are often compared using annualised figures instead.

What is the difference between ROI and profit?

Profit is an amount of money — what is left after costs. ROI is a ratio that puts that profit in proportion to the sum invested to produce it. A 5,000 profit is large from a 10,000 investment and small from a 500,000 one, and only ROI shows the difference.

Is a high ROI always better than a low one?

A higher percentage means more was returned per unit invested, but the figure on its own leaves out the size of the sum, the time taken and the risk involved. Two investments with the same ROI can behave very differently if one took a month and the other took ten years.

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return loss benefit reward yield payback

Nearby words

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