Meanings
comparative more uneconomic · superlative most uneconomic
- 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 5201 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
- Proto-Indo-European*né
- Proto-Indo-European*n̥-
- Proto-Germanic*un-
- Proto-West Germanic*un-
- Old Englishun-
- Middle Englishun-
- Englishun-
- Englisheconomic
- Englishuneconomic
Translations
Finnish kannattamaton
- kannattamatonTranslations
German unökonomisch
- unökonomischTranslations
Polish nieekonomiczny
- nieekonomicznyTranslations
Rhymes & wordplay
Rhymes with uneconomic
Cite this entry
uneconomic. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/uneconomic
“uneconomic.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/uneconomic. Accessed November 4, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “uneconomic,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/uneconomic.
Source: uneconomic on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.