1
as in barren
producing inferior or only a small amount of vegetation
crop rotation had prevented the farmland from becoming unproductive
Synonyms & Similar Words
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in unsuccessful
producing no results
her attempts to write a novel have been unproductive
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of unproductive
Instead, tax dollars are being siphoned off to fund unproductive and unnecessary programs that benefit radical interest groups while hurting hardworking American citizens.
—
Dinah Voyles Pulver, USA Today, 29 Apr. 2025
McBride thinks that type of response is unproductive.
—Oriana González, Them, 21 Mar. 2025
Just discerning what worries are irrational and unproductive can be a great start in reducing them.
—Hannah Nwoko, Parents, 1 May 2025
In many organizations, there’s an unspoken perception that time spent chatting—especially in remote settings—equates to being unproductive.
—Toyna Chin, Forbes.com, 28 Apr. 2025
See All Example Sentences for unproductive
Dinah Voyles Pulver, USA Today, 29 Apr. 2025
McBride thinks that type of response is unproductive.
—Oriana González, Them, 21 Mar. 2025
Just discerning what worries are irrational and unproductive can be a great start in reducing them.
—Hannah Nwoko, Parents, 1 May 2025
In many organizations, there’s an unspoken perception that time spent chatting—especially in remote settings—equates to being unproductive.
—Toyna Chin, Forbes.com, 28 Apr. 2025
See All Example Sentences for unproductive
Recent Examples of Synonyms for unproductive
Adjective
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The festival was deliberately planned for the barren weeks in June after college students left and before the summer concert and festival season kicked in.—
Christopher Arnott,
Hartford Courant,
25 May 2025
-
The Bureau’s new research station on Hawaii’s Mauna Loa volcano, with its high altitude and barren landscape, would prove to be the ideal collection spot.—
Ashley Braun,
Smithsonian Magazine,
19 May 2025
Adjective
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Officials said he was found semiconscious on the River Trail on June 30 but resuscitation attempts were unsuccessful.—
Anthony Robledo,
USA Today,
24 May 2025
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Efforts to refloat the ship during high tide on Thursday were unsuccessful.—
Jasmine Baehr,
FOXNews.com,
23 May 2025
Adjective
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The location is on federal land just north of the U.S.-Mexico border along a desolate stretch of the Sonoran Desert about 72 miles south-southwest of Tucson.—
Doha Madani,
NBC news,
5 May 2025
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Even the trailers for Superman have echos of the Man of Steel and Batman v Superman trailers, including starting with Superman falling out of the sky into a desolate Arctic area.—
Mark Hughes,
Forbes.com,
26 Apr. 2025
Adjective
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Cutting spending wasted on a futile pursuit of a global empire is not just a fiscal necessity.—
Ron Paul,
Oc Register,
20 May 2025
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Desperate Steve Kerr frequently toggled his non-Draymond Green big men as late as the second round of the playoffs in a futile effort to contain the giants of the Minnesota Timberwolves around the rim.—
Alex Kirschenbaum,
MSNBC Newsweek,
17 May 2025
Adjective
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Eagerly drinking the Kool-Aid is Simone DeWitt (Alcock), a formerly impoverished but deeply ambitious upstart from Buffalo who gets a taste of the lifestyle of the rich and famous as Michaela's uppity assistant.—
Kelly Lawler,
USA Today,
23 May 2025
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His father, a Presbyterian minister, was the executive director of the New York City Mission Society, a social-services nonprofit for impoverished children.—
Dwight Garner,
New York Times,
19 May 2025
Adjective
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The character who can go through walls is useless, because beyond the walls is nothing but dirt.—
Katy Waldman,
New Yorker,
24 May 2025
-
For one, any melasma treatment is practically useless without them.—
Jenny Berg,
Allure,
24 May 2025
Adjective
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The product was released in 2023 to a poor reception, and discontinued before the company began winding down operations in February.—
Tom Huddleston Jr.,
CNBC,
24 May 2025
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The original doesn’t go that deeply into it, but this poor girl was essentially forced to be a teen mom at this time in her life when all of her friends would be graduating high school and dating and thinking about their futures.—
Patrick Ryan,
USA Today,
24 May 2025
Adjective
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This anti-waste brand upcycles materials, and was founded by Kisa Sky Shiga.—
Nadja Sayej,
Forbes,
20 Dec. 2022
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Fanning out like urban guerrillas through Paris’ darkened streets well after midnight, the anti-waste activists shinny up walls and drain pipes, reaching for switches to turn off the lights. Click.—
The Christian Science Monitor,
The Christian Science Monitor,
3 Aug. 2022
Cite this Entry
“Unproductive.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/unproductive. Accessed 4 Jun. 2025.
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