counterproductive
Americanadjective
adjective
Other Word Forms
- counterproductively adverb
Etymology
Origin of counterproductive
First recorded in 1960–65; counter- + productive
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
When a character isn’t what they seem, making the false front too emotionally relatable is counterproductive; the viewer, using myself as an example, will feel cheated, annoyed.
From Los Angeles Times
On the issue of whether Germany should also address human rights concerns in the region, Lenz said that any overt displays of "moral arrogance" would be "rather counterproductive".
From Barron's
“Fed leaders would be well served to skip opportunities to share their latest musings. The swivel-chair problem, rhetorically waxing and waning with the latest data release, is common and counterproductive,” Warsh said last April.
From MarketWatch
Musalem also argued that an attempt to help the labor market by easing the short-term interest rates controlled by the Fed could be counterproductive.
Yet this type of leadership can also be counterproductive.
From BBC
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
