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.
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 promised cost savings of 15-20 billion euros within pensions alone by correcting "inefficient and unfair" measures in the current system.
From Barron's ● Oct. 6, 2026
Trying to process a three-dimensional scene in this way has proven to be massively inefficient, yielding models that are too slow to direct a robot in most situations.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 21, 2026
The first few EVAs were pretty inefficient; me filling small containers and bringing them in through the airlock.
From "The Martian" by Andy Weir
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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