inefficiency
Americannoun
-
the quality or condition of being inefficient; lack of efficiency.
-
an instance of inefficiency.
This work is riddled with inefficiencies.
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of inefficiency
First recorded in 1740–50; ineffici(ent) + -ency
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.
See Examples For:
But the inefficiency sent his pitch count past 80 before he exited with runners on first and second in the fifth.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 27, 2026
Board members can only be removed for cause, meaning malfeasance, inefficiency, or neglect in their duties.
From Slate ● Apr. 24, 2026
Scheutz compared this inefficiency to everyday AI tools.
From Science Daily ● Apr. 5, 2026
But for financial institutions and investors, the cumulative effect is a more complex operating environment marked by higher counterparty risk, regulatory divergence, and capital inefficiency.
From Barron's ● Mar. 4, 2026
As a result of this fundamental inefficiency, no mammalian carnivore has ever been domesticated for food.
From "Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies" by Jared M. Diamond
The tendency to justify women’s chronic underpayment rather than address it reproduces inefficiencies that come at a high cost to America’s families, organizations and broader economy.
From MarketWatch ● Jun. 26, 2026
The thing is, Pratt made some strong points about the inefficiencies of L.A.’s political status quo and the outrage that is having tens of thousands of people live on our streets.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 10, 2026
But these efforts have often been uncoordinated, resulting in overlaps, inefficiencies, a general lack of scale and sometimes incompatibilities.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 8, 2026
Supporters of the overhaul argue that the previous system contained an excessive number of overlapping or rarely used categories, which created administrative inefficiencies without significantly improving religious accommodation or support.
From Salon ● Jun. 6, 2026
When George began to watch the Washington oarsmen on the water, he quickly spotted inefficiencies and deficiencies in the mechanics of their stroke that no amount of fiddling with a skeleton could fix.
From "The Boys in the Boat: Nine Americans and Their Epic Quest for Gold at the 1936 Berlin Olympics" by Daniel James Brown
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.
