Meanings
comparative more counterproductive · superlative most counterproductive
- More of a hindrance than a help.
The curse has been Spanish ineptitude feeding Gibraltarian intransigence. Border hold-ups are counterproductive to winning hearts and minds, as were blundering Argentinian landings on the outer Falklands.
2013 August 14, Simon Jenkins, “Gibraltar and the Falklands deny the logic of history”, in The Guardian, archived from the original on 22 Apr 20211 more example
It's most likely that these kinds of cuts to service frequencies, train formations, and service start and finish times would cost more in revenue than they save in cost and would therefore be counterproductive.
2022 January 12, Sir Michael Holden, “Reform of the workforce or death by a thousand cuts?”, in RAIL, number 948, page 25
Synonyms & antonyms
adjectivetending to hinder the achievement of a goal
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
- Proto-Indo-European*ḱe?
- Proto-Indo-European*ḱóm
- Proto-Italic*kom
- Proto-Italic*kom-
- Proto-Italic*komteros
- Proto-Italic*komterād
- Latincontrā
- Old Frenchcontre-
- Anglo-Normancountre-
- Middle Englishcounter-
- Englishcounter-
- Proto-Indo-European*per-der.?
- Proto-Indo-European*pér
- Proto-Indo-European*pró
- Proto-Indo-European*pro-
- Proto-Italic*pro-
- Latinprō-
- Proto-Indo-European*dewk-
- Proto-Indo-European*déwkti
- Proto-Italic*doukō
- Latindūcō
- Latinprōdūcō
- Late Latinprōductīvus
- Englishproductive
- Englishcounterproductive
From counter- + productive.
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Afrikaans teenproduktief
- teenproduktiefmore of a hindrance than a help
Arabic نَتَائِج عَكْسِيَّة
- نَتَائِج عَكْسِيَّة (natāʔij ʕaksiyya)more of a hindrance than a help
Bulgarian контрапродукти́вно
- контрапродукти́вно (kontraproduktívno)more of a hindrance than a help
Catalan contraproduent
- contraproduentmore of a hindrance than a help
Chinese Mandarin 適得其反 /适得其反, 反效果的
- 適得其反 /适得其反 (shìdéqífǎn)more of a hindrance than a help
- 反效果的 (fǎn xiàoguǒ de)more of a hindrance than a help
- 產生反作用的 /产生反作用的 (chǎnshēng zuòyòng de)more of a hindrance than a help
Czech kontraproduktivní
- kontraproduktivnímore of a hindrance than a help
Danish kontraproduktiv
- kontraproduktivmore of a hindrance than a help
Dutch averechts
- averechtsmore of a hindrance than a help
Esperanto kontraŭintenca, malefika
- kontraŭintencamore of a hindrance than a help
- malefikamore of a hindrance than a help
Finnish haitallinen
- haitallinenmore of a hindrance than a help
French contreproductif, contre-productif
- contreproductifmore of a hindrance than a help
- contre-productifmore of a hindrance than a help
German kontraproduktiv
- kontraproduktivmore of a hindrance than a help
Greek αντιπαραγωγικός
- αντιπαραγωγικός (antiparagogikós)more of a hindrance than a help
Hungarian kontraproduktív
- kontraproduktívmore of a hindrance than a help
Indonesian kontraproduktif
- kontraproduktifmore of a hindrance than a help
Italian controproducente
- controproducentemore of a hindrance than a help
Japanese 反生産的
- 反生産的 (han seisan-teki)more of a hindrance than a help
Polish kontrproduktywny, przeciwskuteczny
- kontrproduktywnymore of a hindrance than a help
- przeciwskutecznymore of a hindrance than a help
Portuguese contraprodutivo
- contraprodutivomore of a hindrance than a help
Romanian contraproductiv
- contraproductivmore of a hindrance than a help
Russian контрпродукти́вный
- контрпродукти́вный (kontrproduktívnyj)more of a hindrance than a help
Spanish contraproducente, contraproductivo
- contraproducentemore of a hindrance than a help
- contraproductivomore of a hindrance than a help
Swedish kontraproduktiv
- kontraproduktivmore of a hindrance than a help
Tamil எதிர் விளைவுகளைத்தான்
- எதிர் விளைவுகளைத்தான் (etir viḷaivukaḷaittāṉ)more of a hindrance than a help
Ukrainian контрпродукти́вний
- контрпродукти́вний (kontrproduktývnyj)more of a hindrance than a help
Cite this entry
counterproductive. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/counterproductive
“counterproductive.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/counterproductive. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “counterproductive,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/counterproductive.
Source: counterproductive on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.