1
as in barren
producing inferior or only a small amount of vegetation
crop rotation had prevented the farmland from becoming unproductive
Synonyms & Similar Words
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in unsuccessful
producing no results
her attempts to write a novel have been unproductive
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of unproductive
Cuba has been in crisis ever since the Castro dynasty seized power and turned the country into one of the most unproductive and repressive places on earth.
—
Carlos Eire, Time, 23 Apr. 2026
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
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
See All Example Sentences for unproductive
Carlos Eire, Time, 23 Apr. 2026
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
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
See All Example Sentences for unproductive
Recent Examples of Synonyms for unproductive
Adjective
-
Seeking to eliminate Berber forces in the barren mountains of northern Morocco, seven soldiers obediently follow their fanatical sergeant (Víctor Clavijo) into barbarous depths of depravity.—
Ed Meza,
Variety,
16 May 2026
-
Officials there have said that Iraqi army forces investigated reports of an unauthorized military force in the Nukhaib desert -- a barren area to the southwest of the cities of Karbala and Najaf -- in early March and came under fire while en route to the location.—
Arkansas Online,
Arkansas Online,
16 May 2026
Adjective
-
Investigators said that an initial PIT maneuver was unsuccessful, but a second one caused the truck to crash into another vehicle and roll over onto its side – an incident that was caught on home surveillance video.—
CBS News,
CBS News,
14 May 2026
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Jeremy Brandon Johnson, 53, of Eveleth, was pronounced dead at the scene after lifesaving measures were unsuccessful.—
Forum News Service,
Twin Cities,
14 May 2026
Adjective
-
The delicate pitter-patter of a drum’s cymbal is the only sound to break through the thick brick wall of the obscure performance venue, Sun Space, and reach the wide, desolate Sunland Boulevard.—
Christopher Buchanan,
Los Angeles Times,
18 May 2026
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Earlier this week, along a desolate stretch of road lined with oil refineries just north of the border between Shandong and Hebei provinces, an awareness of that spotlight seemed palpable.—
Simone McCarthy,
CNN Money,
12 May 2026
Adjective
-
But this story has a happier, less futile ending.—
Deborah Treisman,
New Yorker,
17 May 2026
-
To complain about cramps was futile.—
Nami Mun,
The Atlantic,
16 May 2026
Adjective
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The play’s focus is resolutely on the impoverished rural family of women who fall under this ambitious bluesman’s influence in the rural Georgia of the 1930s, writes Chris Jones.—
Chicago Tribune,
Chicago Tribune,
13 May 2026
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This model is much less appealing to the impoverished governments, which sometimes struggle to pay their own troops.—
Brady Knox,
The Washington Examiner,
10 May 2026
Adjective
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In other words, Greg had thought insomnia a problem of the rich, the weak, the useless, the indulgent, the lazy.—
Weike Wang,
New Yorker,
17 May 2026
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But those GPUs are useless without the memory chips stacked alongside them, and Samsung’s three fabrication complexes in South Korea are among the most important pieces of the AI industrial boom.—
Catherina Gioino,
Fortune,
17 May 2026
Adjective
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After wildfires hit Georgia in April 2026 fueled by a rain deficit, high winds and low humidity, — among other causes, per NASA — neighboring states got slammed with poor air quality alerts.—
Ryan Brennan
May 19,
Kansas City Star,
19 May 2026
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However his attitude on health care and taxes places Newsom at odds with advocates for poor Californians who would be affected and their allies in the Legislature, many of whom want a tax increase.—
Dan Walters,
Mercury News,
19 May 2026
Adjective
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Shards of glass and ceramic, rusted metal, medical and bio-waste, syringes, cracked circuit boards, and broken electronics protruded everywhere.—
CNN Money,
CNN Money,
15 Apr. 2026
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Its 2020 anti-waste law requires unsold nonfood goods to be reused, donated or recycled instead of destroyed.—
ABC News,
ABC News,
27 Mar. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Unproductive.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/unproductive. Accessed 22 May. 2026.
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