inefficient
Americanadjective
-
not efficient; unable to effect or achieve the desired result with reasonable economy of means.
-
lacking in ability, incompetent.
adjective
-
unable to perform a task or function to the best advantage; wasteful or incompetent
-
unable to produce the desired result
Synonym Usage
See incapable.
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of inefficient
Explanation
Inefficient things waste time, money, or other resources. Your old inefficient dishwasher uses much more water and electricity than a new model would. Shame on you. Inefficient businesses have trouble making money and growing, and an inefficient city bus system might transport just a few passengers at a time. If your car is inefficient, it gets terrible gas mileage and is expensive to drive. If something is efficient, it's productive and inexpensive. Inefficient has the opposite meaning, which is clear from the "not" prefix in-.
Vocabulary lists containing inefficient
"Sorry, Wrong Number," Vocabulary from the play
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Florida's B.E.S.T. Common Prefixes: in-, im-, il-, ir-
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Lawn Boy
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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.
Supporters call three weekly meetings inefficient and costly, arguing fewer full sessions would free council members to work in their districts and steer more detailed public debate into committee hearings.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 31, 2026
“Paying MA plans more is likely an inefficient way of delivering better benefits to beneficiaries,” Fiedler said.
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 9, 2026
She attributed the results to “pulling on all of the levers of the marketplace,” including optimizing the checkout on Vrbo, cutting inefficient marketing channels and redirecting spending to more productive ones.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 6, 2026
Fewer than four decades ago Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania regained their independence but inherited inefficient factories from the Soviet Union's command economy.
From Barron's ● Aug. 2, 2026
But the same mathematics that makes direct pairwise conflict resolution inefficient in large societies makes direct pairwise economic transfers also inefficient.
From "Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies" by Jared M. Diamond
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Get a wordDefinitions 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.
