counter-productive

A form of counterproductive — More of a hindrance than a help.

OriginEnglish productive ← Late Latin prōductīvus ← Latin prōdūcō →
Ask AI about this wordChatGPTClaudePerplexityGoogle AIGrok

Meanings

adjectivecounter-productive (comparative more counter-productive, superlative most counter-productive)

comparative more counter-productive · superlative most counter-productive

  1. alternativeAlternative spelling of counterproductive.

Origin

  1. Proto-Indo-European*ḱe?
  2. Proto-Indo-European*ḱóm
  3. Proto-Italic*kom
  4. Proto-Italic*kom-
  5. Proto-Italic*komteros
  6. Proto-Italic*komterād
  7. Latincontrā
  8. Old Frenchcontre-
  9. Anglo-Normancountre-
  10. Middle Englishcounter-
  11. Englishcounter-
  12. Latinprōdūcō
  13. Late Latinprōductīvus
  14. Englishproductive
  15. Englishcounter-productive

From counter- + productive.

Full word history & related roots →
Cite this entry
APA

counter-productive. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/counter-productive

MLA

“counter-productive.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/counter-productive. Accessed November 3, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “counter-productive,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/counter-productive.

Source: counter-productive on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.