Word.ws English Dictionary

anti-feature

anti-feature noun: intentionally-implemented functionality of a product or service (typically technology) which hinders or disadvantages the user, and whose removal may incur an additional charge.

Noun

anti-feature (plural anti-features)

  1. Intentionally-implemented functionality of a product or service (typically technology) which hinders or disadvantages the user, and whose removal may incur an additional charge.
    • The printer's anti-features made it hardly worth using: the small $40 ink cartridges get blacklisted after first use to prevent refilling.
  2. Functionality originally intended as a feature, but perceived as a bug, annoyance, or infringement of freedoms by some or even most users.
    • Apple's iBooks 1.1 has an important anti-feature. Full justification has been applied to all books by default on the iPad (but not the iPhone) and cannot be overridden by the book designer.2010, Elizabeth Castro, EPUB Straight to the Point […] , Peachpit Press, →ISBN
    • For example, there are aliases or synonyms for many method names; size and length will both return the numbers of entries in an array. Some consider this sort of thing to be an annoyance or anti-feature, but I consider it a good design. Ruby strives for consistency and regularity.2015, Hal Fulton, André Arko, The Ruby Way […] , Addison-Wesley Professional, →ISBN, page xl

Forms of anti-feature

pluralanti-features
alternative formantifeature

Origin of anti-feature

From anti- + feature.

Questions about anti-feature

What does anti-feature mean?
Anti-feature means intentionally-implemented functionality of a product or service (typically technology) which hinders or disadvantages the user, and whose removal may incur an additional charge.
What part of speech is anti-feature?
Anti-feature is a noun.
What is the plural of anti-feature?
The plural of anti-feature is anti-features.

Words near anti-feature in the dictionary

  1. anti-fans
  2. anti-fascism
  3. anti-fascisms
  4. anti-fascist
  5. Anti-Fascist Protection Wall
  6. anti-feature
  7. anti-features
  8. anti-federal
  9. anti-federalism
  10. anti-federalist
  11. anti-federalists

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: anti-feature (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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