inefficient
Frequently Asked Questions
- Machines, such as a gas-guzzling car or an old washing machine that uses up a lot of energy. Rube Goldberg machines are intentionally inefficient and overly complicated.
- People, such as a worker who completes tasks in roundabout ways or a runner who exerts unnecessary energy during each stride.
- Processes, such as a project that uses more of the budget than it needs to or involves more employees than is necessary.
- Institutions and organizations. People often accuse the government of being inefficient. An inefficient business is one that uses more resources than are necessary to operate.
- Without my monitor and mouse, I can still get work done, but I’m really inefficient—it takes me an hour to do what usually takes 10 minutes!
- Some people say that the government is too inefficient and should be run like a business.
- My car is so inefficient—it only gets 8 miles to the gallon.
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.
"This is a new way to make a fundamental carbon-carbon bond and that's why the potential impact is so great. It also means chemists can avoid an undesirable and inefficient drug modification process."
From Science Daily
While this method produces very durable final products, it uses significant quantities of expensive raw materials and generates inefficient yields.
From Science Daily
It was his most inefficient shooting performance with more than 11 shots of his career.
From Los Angeles Times
“And yes, we want to squeeze out every last bit of opportunity there. I think there’s no debate that the system now is inefficient.”
Coal plants, which can’t easily shut down and restart, either operate at a loss during those hours or ramp down to levels that are inefficient and cause mechanical wear and tear, Dorris said.
From Roget's 21st Century Thesaurus, Third Edition Copyright © 2013 by the Philip Lief Group.
