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
- ineffectively adverb
- ineffectiveness noun
Etymology
Origin of ineffective
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.
Maybe that’s true — but it doesn’t mean it’s rhetorically ineffective.
From MarketWatch • Apr. 2, 2026
State lawmakers passed the new measures in response to healthcare professionals who said that efforts to change a teenager’s sexual orientation were both ineffective and harmful.
From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 31, 2026
The strikes are both depleting interceptor supplies and demonstrating the limitations of legacy anti-drone systems, which are ineffective against sustained Shahed attacks, Horan and McDermott added.
From Barron's • Mar. 4, 2026
Besides pulling off dozens of ticks, Bardwell recalled the main challenge being “wait-a-minute vines,” made tougher by cheap, ineffective machetes.
From The Wall Street Journal • Feb. 23, 2026
I feel her wave of worry like a patio heater—faint and ineffective, but constant.
From "Challenger Deep" by Neal Shusterman
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.
