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Definition of counterproductive
: tending to hinder the attainment of a desired goal violence as a means to achieve an end is counterproductive — W. E. Brock born 1930
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Examples of counterproductive in a Sentence
His uncontrollable anger is very counterproductive to his attempt at saving his marriage.
harsh disciplinary measures that prove to be counterproductive
Recent Examples of counterproductive from the Web
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And some of the White House’s efforts have clearly been counterproductive.
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And some of the White House’s efforts have clearly been counterproductive.
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Despite their discussion about a potential McEnroe vs. Williams match-up, Garcia-Navarro and the retired pro seem to agree that the idea of comparing male and female athletes is counterproductive.
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While yes, a goal should be to achieve likability, attempting to do so by discussing personal life is not necessarily advantageous and in many cases can be counterproductive and even unprofessional.
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Single-use commercial zoning that does not provide the regulatory support to sustain a mix of uses is counterproductive.
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Adding two players so similar offsets some of the risk involved but is also inherently counterproductive.
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None of this is coherent strategy, and almost all of it counterproductive.
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The Wings have explored trading Mrazek, but the expansion draft complicated matters for some teams – the Winnipeg Jets, for example, wanted to be able to protect Connor Hellebuyck, so adding another goalie pre-expansion draft was counterproductive.
These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'counterproductive'. Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
First Known Use of counterproductive
1959
COUNTERPRODUCTIVE Defined for English Language Learners
counterproductive
playDefinition of counterproductive for English Language Learners
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: not helpful : making the thing you want to happen less likely to happen
Learn More about counterproductive
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Thesaurus: All synonyms and antonyms for counterproductive Spanish Central: Translation of counterproductive Nglish: Translation of counterproductive for Spanish speakers Britannica English: Translation of counterproductive for Arabic speakers
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