Meaning & use
counterproductive
Last updated
Tending to produce the opposite of the intended result, hindering rather than helping progress toward a goal.
See it in a sentence
Yelling at tired employees to work faster is often counterproductive.
Skipping meals to lose weight can be counterproductive, since it slows the metabolism.
A note on using this word
A compound of "counter-" (against) and "productive," popularized in mid-20th-century management and policy writing.
Words with a similar meaning
self-defeating
Choose a synonym to suit the sentence. Meanings can overlap without being identical.
Words with an opposite meaning
productivehelpful
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