as in worthless
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Recent Examples of nonproductive
Pruning also thins nonproductive stems, allowing light to reach the interior of the tree and ripen the fruit.
—
Megan Hughes, Better Homes & Gardens, 16 Dec. 2025
The key is refusing to engage in circular or baiting conversations, instead setting boundaries and exiting nonproductive conversations.
—Angela Haupt, Time, 30 Oct. 2025
Course of trade in the oil industry often leaves the public on the hook for nonproductive well cleanup costs, including capping.
—Andrew Leahey, Forbes, 7 Jan. 2025
Buoyed by the early promise of its Dravet therapeutic, the company developed a second drug candidate, STK-002, that similarly targets splicing to turn nonproductive gene transcripts into constructive ones.
—Elie Dolgin, Discover Magazine, 26 Apr. 2023
Remove all twiggy, dead or nonproductive growth.
—oregonlive, 8 Mar. 2022
Megan Hughes, Better Homes & Gardens, 16 Dec. 2025
The key is refusing to engage in circular or baiting conversations, instead setting boundaries and exiting nonproductive conversations.
—Angela Haupt, Time, 30 Oct. 2025
Course of trade in the oil industry often leaves the public on the hook for nonproductive well cleanup costs, including capping.
—Andrew Leahey, Forbes, 7 Jan. 2025
Buoyed by the early promise of its Dravet therapeutic, the company developed a second drug candidate, STK-002, that similarly targets splicing to turn nonproductive gene transcripts into constructive ones.
—Elie Dolgin, Discover Magazine, 26 Apr. 2023
Remove all twiggy, dead or nonproductive growth.
—oregonlive, 8 Mar. 2022
Recent Examples of Synonyms for nonproductive
Adjective
-
This does nothing to help onboard new VGC players, who are now more likely to pick a worthless item that puts them at a disadvantage.—
Kallie Plagge,
The Verge,
11 Apr. 2026
-
Remove those incentives and innovation will slow – while farmers’ already substantial investments become worthless.—
John Cleveland,
Boston Herald,
7 Apr. 2026
Adjective
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Other airlines, including Lufthansa and KLM, have had to scale back service as jet fuel costs render some routes unprofitable.—
CBS News,
CBS News,
17 Apr. 2026
-
Airlines have been cutting services as the increase in fuel prices has made some routes unprofitable.—
Glenn Taylor,
Footwear News,
14 Apr. 2026
Adjective
-
Other than his walk, Hernandez has been particularly unproductive at Coors Field.—
Bill Plunkett,
Oc Register,
19 Apr. 2026
-
Companies won’t need whole teams to coordinate in clunky, unproductive meetings; one AI with a few humans will get the job done cheaper and faster.—
Solo Ceesay,
Rolling Stone,
10 Apr. 2026
Adjective
-
Efforts by Knight's attorneys to appeal the case have so far been unsuccessful.—
Landon Mion,
FOXNews.com,
23 Apr. 2026
-
Harry launched an unsuccessful bid for City Council in 2010.—
Ishani Desai,
Sacbee.com,
23 Apr. 2026
Adjective
-
Nick Suzuki’s top line for Montreal was held pointless at five-on-five for a third straight game.—
Arpon Basu,
New York Times,
25 Apr. 2026
-
To see players announced and introduced after 10 minutes of pointless waiting and camera shots of team executives sitting around a table looking at laptops before clapping after every decision.—
Ian Miller OutKick,
FOXNews.com,
23 Apr. 2026
Adjective
-
Social services are borderline useless.—
David Fear,
Rolling Stone,
17 Apr. 2026
-
Still, old soil isn’t exactly useless.—
Jessica Safavimehr,
Southern Living,
16 Apr. 2026
Adjective
-
Six of the album’s tracks began in abortive sessions in the 2010s with Patti Smith Group bassist Tony Shanahan.—
Brian Hiatt,
Rolling Stone,
22 Apr. 2026
-
The Chinese duo’s voices pirouette around a pulse that sounds like a car door chime as abortive crashes puncture the otherwise placid, kickless ambience.—
James Gui,
Pitchfork,
17 Apr. 2026
Adjective
-
On Saturday, Durant reaffirmed his stance that the question of his and other superstars’ effort was an unavailing narrative to explore every February.—
Devon Henderson,
New York Times,
14 Feb. 2026
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The position advanced by the states is legally unavailing as a matter of longstanding and well-established law.—
WSJ,
WSJ,
25 July 2018
Cite this Entry
“Nonproductive.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/nonproductive. Accessed 27 Apr. 2026.
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