ineffective
Americanadjective
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not effective; not producing results; ineffectual.
ineffective efforts; ineffective remedies.
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inefficient or incompetent; incapable.
an ineffective manager.
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lacking in artistic effect, as a literary work, theatrical production, or painting.
adjective
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having no effect
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incompetent or inefficient
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of ineffective
Explanation
Use the adjective ineffective to describe something that doesn't work quite the way it's supposed to. You might complain about your ineffective guard dog, who wags his tail and licks everyone who comes to your house. When you're ineffective, you're unable to accomplish something you're trying to do. You might realize that you're an ineffective babysitter when you can't get the kids to go to bed. Ineffective comes from the Latin prefix in, "not, or opposite of," added to effective, whose Latin root is effectivus, "productive." When something's unproductive, inefficient, or incapable, it's ineffective.
Vocabulary lists containing ineffective
Florida's B.E.S.T. Common Prefixes: in-, im-, il-, ir-
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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.
These details emerged more than a decade later in a court hearing reviewing her case, when a new team of lawyers claimed ineffective assistance of counsel, a claim that was denied by the judge.
From BBC ● Sep. 26, 2026
In contrast, Mr. Driscoll warned lawmakers, “our software systems are compartmentalized, isolated and ineffective against modern threats.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 25, 2026
Those proved to be ineffective, but by then Kuzichkin—whom the British code-named “Redwood” because of his height—was already delivering a trove of secrets while still holding on to his KGB job.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 14, 2026
But the Rams were largely ineffective front to back.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 13, 2026
But mainstream figures in science and the military disdained RW as ineffective, impractical, and immoral.
From "Big Science" by Michael Hiltzik
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.
