ineffective
/ˌɪn.ɪˈfɛk.tɪv/
More pronunciations (1)Fewer pronunciations
Australia/ˌɪn.əˈfek.tɪv/
ineffective adjective: not having the desired effect; ineffectual; otiose.
Adjective
ineffective (comparative more ineffective, superlative most ineffective)
- Not having the desired effect; ineffectual; otiose.
- Synonyms:
- fruitless, inefficacious, unprofitable, lame, bootless, barren, futile, sterile, gainless, idle
- Lacking in ability; incompetent or inadequate.
- Fire ants circumvented the problem of an ineffective sting by having an unusual and highly effective venom that when daubed or sprayed on other ants penetrates their waxy protective integumental barrier and kills or disables them.2016, Justin O. Schmidt, The Sting of the Wild, Johns Hopkins University Press, →ISBN, page 102
- Their use was “impermissible not because it is unwise or ineffective, but because [federal law]^([sic]) does not allow it”, the decision explained.2025 May 29, Kalyeena Makortoff, “US federal court blocks Trump from imposing sweeping tariffs”, in The Guardian, →ISSN
- Synonyms:
- incapable, inept, deficient, insufficient, amateurish, backwards, bad, bungling, clumsy, ham-fisted
ineffective meaning in Tamil, Marathi, Urdu and Bengali
ineffective in Tamil
- திறமையற்ற, பயனற்ற, செயற்படுத்த முடியாத, நடைமுறைப்படுத்த இயலாத, விளைபயனற்ற
ineffective in Marathi
- ineffective
- निकामी nikāmī
ineffective in Urdu
- ineffective
- کمزور kamzor
ineffective in Bengali
- ineffective, futile
- অকার্যকরী okarjokori
- ineffective
- অসফল asaphala
More languagesFewer languages
- ineffective in Malayalam
- ഫലശൂന്യമായ, ഉദ്ദേശിച്ച ഫലം ചെയ്യാത്ത, നിഷ്പ്രയോജക, നിഷ്പ്രയോജന
- ineffective in Kannada
- ನಿಷ್ಫಲ, ಪರಿಣಾಮಕಾರಿಯಲ್ಲದ, ಫಲಕಾರಿಯಲ್ಲದ, ನಿಷ್ಪ್ರಯೋಜಕ
Examples of ineffective in a sentence
- His policies may be ineffective, but he is never at a loss for words.
- An anti-personnel mine will kill a soldier but is ineffective against a tank.
- The "just say no" advertising campaign was mostly ineffective demarketing of illegal drugs.
Synonyms of ineffective
30 more synonymsFewer synonyms
Forms of ineffective
| comparative | more ineffective |
|---|---|
| superlative | most ineffective |
Origin of ineffective
From in- + effective.
Words formed from ineffective
Words that rhyme with ineffective
- projective
- subjective
- effective
- objective
- prospective
- reflective
- collective
- connective
- defective
- directive
- respective
- selective
28 more rhymesFewer rhymes
- injective
- detective
- elective
- irrespective
- perfective
- retrospective
- affective
- bijective
- corrective
- erective
- inflective
- intellective
- intersubjective
- protective
- refective
- advective
- convective
- deflective
- ejective
- imperfective
- infective
- inspective
- introspective
- overprotective
- rejective
- surjective
- unreflective
- unselective
Questions about ineffective
- What does ineffective mean?
- Ineffective means not having the desired effect; ineffectual; otiose.
- What is ineffective in Tamil?
- Ineffective in Tamil is திறமையற்ற, பயனற்ற, செயற்படுத்த முடியாத. See Ineffective meaning in Tamil.
- What part of speech is ineffective?
- Ineffective is an adjective.
- How do you pronounce ineffective?
- Ineffective is pronounced /ˌɪn.ɪˈfɛk.tɪv/.
Words near ineffective in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: ineffective (page history and authors); ineffective (Tamil Wiktionary) (page history and authors); निकामी (Marathi) (page history and authors); کمزور (Urdu) (page history and authors); অকার্যকরী (Bengali) (page history and authors); ineffective (Olam, E.K. Kurup corpus) (dataset and license); ineffective (Kannada Wiktionary) (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.
Last updated:
Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Jjamesryan-ineffective.wav.
Cite this entry: “ineffective.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/ineffective. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.