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
-
The handwash sink next to the three-compartment sink proved worthless without soap, paper towels or a mechanical blower.—
David J. Neal,
Miami Herald,
5 Apr. 2026
-
In an economy where wages are anchored to what compute would cost to replicate human work, human labor becomes economically marginal—not worthless, but negligibly small relative to the overall pie.—
Nick Lichtenberg,
Fortune,
4 Apr. 2026
Adjective
-
Meanwhile, roughly 100 chronically unprofitable restaurants continue to drain profits, Bloomberg reported.—
Sydney Lake,
Fortune,
3 Apr. 2026
-
Aside from the eye-watering increase in the price of oil, making many flights unprofitable, European media are warning of potential jet fuel shortages in parts of Europe and Asia, raising concerns that some routes could become harder to operate if supplies tighten.—
The Editorial Board,
Chicago Tribune,
1 Apr. 2026
Adjective
-
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
-
This distortion creates a dynamic that blurs the line between authority figure and peer ally, which is unhealthy, unproductive and simply not the role of public schools.—
The Editorial Board,
Chicago Tribune,
8 Apr. 2026
Adjective
-
Life-saving measures were unsuccessful.—
Forum News Service,
Twin Cities,
9 Apr. 2026
-
During the most recent campaign and in a previous unsuccessful run for mayor, Laesch claimed Irvin prioritized government contracts or incentives to those who donated to his campaign, which Irvin consistently denied.—
R. Christian Smith,
Chicago Tribune,
8 Apr. 2026
Adjective
-
The wars stop making sense, and thus the human and financial sacrifices come to seem pointless.—
Fintan O’Toole,
The New York Review of Books,
9 Apr. 2026
-
The hideous prospect of interviewing for jobs even more pointless than this one appears before me.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
8 Apr. 2026
Adjective
-
Architects and other critics of the project had panned the staircase as too large and basically useless since there was no way to enter the ballroom at the top.—
Darlene Superville,
Los Angeles Times,
2 Apr. 2026
-
In practice, this means a madhouse of multimedia rooms, packed with gurgling videos and useless machines and humanoid bodies.—
Zachary Fine,
New Yorker,
31 Mar. 2026
Adjective
-
Google’s Tripartite Advantage Google has been more successful than Meta in fintech due to a strategic focus on utility, infrastructure, and user trust, whereas Mark Zuckerberg’s firm has struggled with trust issues and regulatory hurdles, particularly with the abortive Diem project.—
Zennon Kapron,
Forbes.com,
1 Feb. 2026
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In October, the Miami Herald reported on abortive negotiations — also involving Qatar — in which Rodríguez proposed leading a transitional government if Maduro agreed to step aside and retire to a prearranged safe haven.—
Antonio María Delgado,
Miami Herald,
23 Jan. 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 13 Apr. 2026.
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