unproductive
- adjective
- /ˌʌnprəˈdʌktɪv/
- The long discussions were unproductive and did not lead to any decisions.
- unproductive activities
- often unproductive
- unproductive profit
Yeah, I believe in being bored and unproductive wholeheartedly.
- Yeah, I believe in being bored and unproductive wholeheartedly.
- Otherwise no one is going to lend for these unproductive projects.
- Like, that's like completely unproductive and not useful for anyone.
- And this focus on the competition is a really unproductive distraction.
- It simply doesn't make sense to waste money on unproductive schemes.
- What he's really scolding them for, then, is not violence as such, but violence channelled to unproductive ends.
- You know, So a prime example of this would be people who've suffered some terrible trauma, and they've got a unproductive way of dealing with that.
- And so but a Marxist who didn't talk about the difference between productive and unproductive labor.
- I think answering the phone every single time it rings is the most unproductive, toxic thing that we could do in our society.
- You can feel that it's that it's untrue, but that would be unproductive and create unnecessary tension and conflict.
- Like, OK, do you think plan BS are mostly unproductive?
- Maybe that's pleasant to somebody, but that feels unproductive.
- It feels pretty hopeless and talking feels unproductive.
Examples
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Otherwise no one is going to lend for these unproductive projects.
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The steep slopes and shallow, infertile soils are unproductive for cultivation, so much of the region remains forested.
Academic text (2012) -
In the first group, they said they felt sorry for themselves and took an unproductive approach.
Academic text (1992) -
But our meetings so far have been unproductive.
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And this focus on the competition is a really unproductive distraction.
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Rent-seeking and other unproductive activities have led to a further waste of resources.
Academic text (1997) -
It simply doesn't make sense to waste money on unproductive schemes.
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Thirty of us were selected for a special project in Eastern Colorado, an arid and unproductive agricultural region.
Academic text (1992) -
The large, highly unproductive estates were destroyed, and the land was redistributed to small, landless peasants.
Academic text (1992) -
Investing in those unproductive projects wasted both time and resources.
Synonyms
Not able to do the job it is made for
Not working well enough to give the wanted result
Not likely to work or help
Not getting the result someone wants
Not using time, work, or money well
Not giving the results you want
Not able to produce the result wanted
Not giving useful results or helping to finish work, like a meeting
Not producing any useful result
Not producing the result you want
Not producing the intended result
Not effective at making the result you want
Not producing the intended result
Not playing an important or deciding role in a result
Not able to do what is needed
Antonyms
How Productive
Surface Forms
Morphology
unproductive = productive (transparent) = un + product + ive
The negation prefix 'un-' attaches to the familiar adjective 'productive' to yield the straightforward meaning 'not productive'.
Etymology
Unproductive is made of un- meaning 'not' and produce meaning 'to make or bring forth', as in product. So something unproductive is 'not producing' useful results, like a meeting that makes no new ideas.