counterproductive
adjective
coun·ter·pro·duc·tive
ˌkau̇n-tər-prə-ˈdək-tiv 
: tending to hinder the attainment of a desired goal
violence as a means to achieve an end is counterproductive—
W. E. Brock born 1930
W. E. Brock born 1930Examples of counterproductive in a Sentence
His uncontrollable anger is very counterproductive to his attempt at saving his marriage.
harsh disciplinary measures that prove to be counterproductive
Recent Examples on the Web
Anything that gets in the way of a smooth user experience will likely be ignored or disabled, and thus quickly becomes counterproductive from the perspective of attack mitigation.
—Davey Winder, Forbes.com, 14 June 2025
Asked whether flying the banner of another country during a protest should be deemed offensive or counterproductive, Kim scoffed and shook his head.
—Salvador Hernandez, Los Angeles Times, 13 June 2025
The engineering community, especially roboticists, needs to be proactive on these issues to prevent any backlash from society and to preempt potentially counterproductive measures or international regulations that could harm open science.
—Ludovic Righetti, IEEE Spectrum, 10 June 2025
Rather, Trump and his economic officials have decried economic circumstances that have developed slowly over decades and are attempting some kind of intuitive (and counterproductive) quick fix to address them.
—New York Daily News Editorial Board, New York Daily News, 30 May 2025
See All Example Sentences for counterproductive
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to
show current usage.
Read More
Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors.
Send us feedback.
Davey Winder, Forbes.com, 14 June 2025
Asked whether flying the banner of another country during a protest should be deemed offensive or counterproductive, Kim scoffed and shook his head.
—Salvador Hernandez, Los Angeles Times, 13 June 2025
The engineering community, especially roboticists, needs to be proactive on these issues to prevent any backlash from society and to preempt potentially counterproductive measures or international regulations that could harm open science.
—Ludovic Righetti, IEEE Spectrum, 10 June 2025
Rather, Trump and his economic officials have decried economic circumstances that have developed slowly over decades and are attempting some kind of intuitive (and counterproductive) quick fix to address them.
—New York Daily News Editorial Board, New York Daily News, 30 May 2025
See All Example Sentences for counterproductive
Cite this Entry
“Counterproductive.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/counterproductive. Accessed 19 Jun. 2025.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
Share