Meaning & use
non-actionable
Last updated
Meanings
adjectivenot comparable
Not giving a practical or useful basis for action; impossible or pointless to act on.
Grammar: Describes a thing (a report, comment, idea): the feedback was non-actionable. It is not used in the comparative.
Patterns
- non-actionable feedback
- non-actionable information
- remain non-actionable
The survey produced interesting but non-actionable results.
Please give specific suggestions rather than vague, non-actionable comments.
Without a budget, the plan is non-actionable.
adjectivenot comparablelegal
In law, not giving a valid reason to bring a court case.
Grammar: Used before a noun in legal writing: a non-actionable claim, a non-actionable statement.
Patterns
- a non-actionable claim
- non-actionable statements
The judge ruled that the complaint was non-actionable.
The company argued that the remark was non-actionable opinion, not fact.
Lawyers advised that the breach was technically non-actionable because too much time had passed.
Common combinations
- non-actionable feedback
- The manager asked for non-actionable feedback to be left out of the review.
- non-actionable intelligence
- Analysts complained that the raw data was non-actionable intelligence.
- render something non-actionable
- The new rules render many old complaints non-actionable.
- non-actionable claim
- The court dismissed the non-actionable claim without a hearing.
Synonyms and how they differ
- impractical
- Describes something hard to do in practice; 'non-actionable' stresses that no useful action can be based on it.
- unusable
- Means it cannot be used at all; 'non-actionable' information may be true and interesting but still not lead to action.
Opposites
Word family
- actionable adjective
- Giving a good reason or practical basis to act.
- action noun
- Something done; the act of doing something.
Commonly confused: non-actionable or unactionable?
non-actionable vs unactionable
A rare variant with the same meaning; 'non-actionable' is the standard form in business and law.
Practice
The consultant's report was full of data but completely ______, so no one could use it.
Choose one answer.
The report cannot be acted on, so 'non-actionable' fits. 'Actionable' is the opposite, 'non-action' is a noun, and 'action' is a noun or verb, not an adjective.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “non-actionable”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.