uneconomic

U1N1E1C3O1N1O1M3I1C3

adjective

Financially inefficient, costly, wasteful, or loss-making.

UncommonScrabble 16

Meanings

adjectiveuneconomic (comparative more uneconomic, superlative most uneconomic)

comparative more uneconomic · superlative most uneconomic

  1. Financially inefficient, costly, wasteful, or loss-making.

    Since the modernisation plan was launched, the policy of withdrawing uneconomic services has been continued.

    1959 August 28, “Re-appraisal of the Modernisation of British Railways”, in Railway Magazine, page 520
    1 more example

    Barker believed that evidence was emerging that a "solid proportion" of operations were "grossly uneconomic", and that no amount of improvement in equipment would make them viable. He suggested that "while the superstructure of the report is correct, the foundations require radical re-examination".

    2023 March 8, David Clough, “The long road that led to Beeching”, in RAIL, number 978, page 42

Synonyms & antonyms

adjectivewasteful of resources

Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.

Origin

  1. Proto-Indo-European*né
  2. Proto-Indo-European*n̥-
  3. Proto-Germanic*un-
  4. Proto-West Germanic*un-
  5. Old Englishun-
  6. Middle Englishun-
  7. Englishun-
  8. Englisheconomic
  9. Englishuneconomic

From un- + economic.

Full word history & related roots →

Translations

Finnish kannattamaton
  • kannattamatonTranslations
German unökonomisch
  • unökonomischTranslations
Polish nieekonomiczny
  • nieekonomicznyTranslations

Rhymes & wordplay

Rhymes with uneconomic

All rhymes →
Cite this entry
APA

uneconomic. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/uneconomic

MLA

“uneconomic.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/uneconomic. Accessed November 4, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “uneconomic,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/uneconomic.

Source: uneconomic on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.