Meanings
adjectiveunproductive (comparative more unproductive, superlative most unproductive)
comparative more unproductive · superlative most unproductive
- Not productive; useless; fruitless.
Juggling is an amusing pastime, but generally unproductive.
- mechanisms of word formation; etc; mechanisms of word formation; etchuman sciencesNo longer used to produce new words (see examples).
Synonyms & antonyms
Similar
adjectivenot producing or capable of producing
Opposite
adjectivenot producing desired results
Also see
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-
- 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
- Englishunproductive
From un- + productive.
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Catalan improductiu
- improductiunot productive
Chinese Mandarin 無生產的 /无生产的
- 無生產的 /无生产的 (wúshēngchǎn de)not productive
Czech neproduktivní
- neproduktivnínot productive
Dutch onproductief, improductief
- onproductiefnot productive
- improductiefnot productive
Finnish tuottamaton
- tuottamatonnot productive
French improductif
- improductifnot productive
German unproduktiv
- unproduktivnot productive
Hungarian terméketlen, improduktív
- terméketlennot productive
- improduktívnot productive
- gyümölcstelennot productive
- meddőnot productive
- szaporátlannot productive
Italian improduttivo
- improduttivonot productive
Japanese 非生産的
- 非生産的 (hiseisanteki)not productive
Māori whiro, mūhore
- whironot productive
- mūhorenot productive
- tītōheanot productive
- pūwekunot productive
- pūekunot productive
Polish bezproduktywny, nieproduktywny
- bezproduktywnynot productive
- nieproduktywnynot productive
Portuguese improdutivo
- improdutivonot productive
Romanian neproductiv, nefructuos
- neproductivnot productive
- nefructuosnot productive
Russian непродукти́вный, непроизводи́тельный
- непродукти́вный (neproduktívnyj)not productive
- непроизводи́тельный (neproizvodítelʹnyj)not productive
Rhymes & wordplay
Rhymes with unproductive
All rhymes →Cite this entry
APA
unproductive. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/unproductive
MLA
“unproductive.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/unproductive. Accessed November 3, 2026.
Chicago
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “unproductive,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/unproductive.
Source: unproductive on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.