Meaning & use
unproductive
Last updated
Not producing useful results; wasting time or effort without achieving anything worthwhile.
See it in a sentence
The meeting was unproductive because no decisions were made.
He felt unproductive after spending the whole afternoon scrolling on his phone.
A note on using this word
Can describe both a person's efforts and a stretch of time, as in "an unproductive meeting" or "an unproductive day."
Words with a similar meaning
fruitlessineffective
Choose a synonym to suit the sentence. Meanings can overlap without being identical.
Words with an opposite meaning
productiveeffective
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