1
as in barren
producing inferior or only a small amount of vegetation
crop rotation had prevented the farmland from becoming unproductive
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in unsuccessful
producing no results
her attempts to write a novel have been unproductive
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of unproductive
Gerstner slashed costs and sold off unproductive assets, including real estate and IBM’s collection of fine art.
—
Patrick Oster, Fortune, 28 Dec. 2025
Unless societies can chart a path between recognizing human freedom and acknowledging the peril of depopulation, the conversation about low fertility will be, at best, unproductive and, at worst, actively dangerous for individual rights.
—Foreign Affairs, 16 Dec. 2025
Other experts have concluded that, for most people, multitasking is an unproductive myth.
—Harriette Cole, Mercury News, 28 Nov. 2025
This process helps avoid unproductive drilling by using satellite signals, ground measurements, and geologic models to guide early decisions.
—Sujita Sinha, Interesting Engineering, 26 Nov. 2025
See All Example Sentences for unproductive
Patrick Oster, Fortune, 28 Dec. 2025
Unless societies can chart a path between recognizing human freedom and acknowledging the peril of depopulation, the conversation about low fertility will be, at best, unproductive and, at worst, actively dangerous for individual rights.
—Foreign Affairs, 16 Dec. 2025
Other experts have concluded that, for most people, multitasking is an unproductive myth.
—Harriette Cole, Mercury News, 28 Nov. 2025
This process helps avoid unproductive drilling by using satellite signals, ground measurements, and geologic models to guide early decisions.
—Sujita Sinha, Interesting Engineering, 26 Nov. 2025
See All Example Sentences for unproductive
Recent Examples of Synonyms for unproductive
Adjective
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The Leafs’ priority at the trade deadline must be restocking their barren cupboards with high draft picks and intriguing prospects.—
Joshua Kloke,
New York Times,
4 Feb. 2026
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In 2016, a team led by Su Yinquan, dean of forestry at Northwest A&F University, leased 14 hectares of barren Gobi land in Xinjiang to test whether Duzhong could survive and grow there.—
Bojan Stojkovski,
Interesting Engineering,
31 Jan. 2026
Adjective
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The Star-Telegram attempted to reach Atkins for comment, but was unsuccessful.—
Matthew Adams,
Fort Worth Star-Telegram,
5 Feb. 2026
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Last year, the moderate Democrat took on a crowded field of candidates in an unsuccessful bid to become New York City mayor.—
Jesse Zanger,
CBS News,
5 Feb. 2026
Adjective
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Gibney illustrates that state of waiting, of staving off what at that time appears to be the inevitable, with the famous sequence from Ingmar Bergman’s The Seventh Seal, in which Max von Sydow’s medieval knight plays chess with Death on a desolate beach.—
David Rooney,
HollywoodReporter,
25 Jan. 2026
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Tautly written, this first novel by a former criminal lawyer who spent 17 years in the Arctic is a hard look at the desolate lives of people resigned to life in the bleak far north.—
Sandra Dallas,
Denver Post,
24 Jan. 2026
Adjective
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The metallic sheets cannot stop the damage Echard seeks to impose on her canvases, much like those tinfoil hats that some use in confused, futile efforts to shield themselves from pernicious invisible forces.—
Theo Belci,
Artforum,
1 Feb. 2026
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But other professors, perhaps concluding that resistance is futile, are adjusting to the media their students grew up on.—
Rose Horowitch,
The Atlantic,
30 Jan. 2026
Adjective
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Pilgrims also threw in coins as offerings, some later retrieved by impoverished people to survive.—
Norma Meyer,
Oc Register,
4 Feb. 2026
-
The penultimate episode saw Deathclaws descending on Freeside, an impoverished community on the fringes of New Vegas.—
Randall Colburn,
Entertainment Weekly,
4 Feb. 2026
Adjective
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Homeowners and residents are baffled by the attacks upon their beautiful — but otherwise seemingly useless — plants.—
Tribune News Service,
San Diego Union-Tribune,
31 Jan. 2026
-
My deep cynicism thinks this was a diabolical plan to herd young people toward expensive, and somewhat useless, college degrees.—
Tim Carter,
Hartford Courant,
31 Jan. 2026
Adjective
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The latest information from the National Council on Problem Gambling shows adolescent problem gambling leads to a complex mix of criminal behavior, poor academic achievement, truancy, financial problems, depression, suicide and substance abuse.—
Nick Penzenstadler,
USA Today,
3 Feb. 2026
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Congratulations to Umpire Engzell for being virtually the only person to call her out on her poor tennis behavior.—
Reader Commentary,
Baltimore Sun,
3 Feb. 2026
Adjective
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Breakfast is served in the Heritage Room, and is never too copious, in line with the hotel's anti-waste policy.—
Maddalena Fossati,
Condé Nast Traveler,
6 Feb. 2026
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Local laws and supplier audits The OECD has called on Shein to publish further public information about its compliance with France’s anti-waste law (AGEC), which aims to move businesses toward greater circularity.—
Meghan Hall,
Sourcing Journal,
1 Oct. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Unproductive.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/unproductive. Accessed 9 Feb. 2026.
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