unproductive

adjective

un·​pro·​duc·​tive ˌən-prə-ˈdək-tiv 

-prō-

: not effective in bringing something about : not yielding results, benefits, or profits : not productive

unproductive meetings

unproductive strategies

unproductive workers

Synonyms

• barren
• bony
• boney
• dead
• desolate
• hardscrabble
• impoverished
• infertile
• poor
• stark
• unfertile
• waste

Examples of unproductive in a Sentence

crop rotation had prevented the farmland from becoming unproductive

her attempts to write a novel have been unproductive

Recent Examples on the Web

This is one of the main reasons so many difficult conversations derail into unproductive exercises in uncomfortable time-wasting. —Jason Walker Psyd, Forbes, 19 Feb. 2025

President Trump says decades of unproductive U.S. diplomacy in the Middle East have failed to deliver peace and prosperity. —Howard Lafranchi, The Christian Science Monitor, 5 Feb. 2025

With failures and injuries leaving Kingery unproductive and minor league simply roster filler. —Sam Blum, The Athletic, 23 Jan. 2025

Instead, tax dollars are being siphoned off to fund unproductive and unnecessary programs that benefit radical interest groups while hurting hard-working American citizens. —Ross Rosenfeld, Newsweek, 26 Feb. 2025

Word History

First Known Use

circa 1676, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for unproductive

• deconstructive
• nondestructive
• nonproductive
• reconstructive
• reproductive
• abductive
• conductive
• constructive
• deductive
• destructive
• inductive
• instructive