Dictionary

contraproductive en · ADJ

Etymology

Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *ḱe? Proto-Indo-European *ḱóm Proto-Italic *kom Proto-Italic *kom- Proto-Indo-European *-teros Proto-Italic *-teros Proto-Italic *komterosder. Proto-Italic *komterād Latin contrābor. English contra- Proto-Indo-European *per-der.? Proto-Indo-European *per-der.? Proto-Indo-European *pér Proto-Indo-European *-o Proto-Indo-European *pró Proto-Indo-European *pro- Proto-Italic *pro- Latin prō- Proto-Indo-European *dewk- Proto-Indo-European *déwkti Proto-Italic *doukō Latin dūcō Latin prōdūcō Proto-Indo-European *-wós Proto-Indo-European *-iHwósder. Latin -īvus Late Latin prōductīvusbor. English productive English contraproductive From contra- + productive. Spontaneously calqued from the users' respective native language, e.g. German kontraproduktiv, Romanian contraproductiv.

Meanings

1. (nonstandard, qualifier:non-native speakers' English) Counterproductive.
   • You can convert your HardDrive to FAT32 with Partition Magic 3 or higher, but FAT32 is NOT recognized by Win95(a), so it is not only useless, but contraproductive, if you don't have Win95B 1997 June 4, Andreas Heib, “Win95 revision b”, in alt.windows95 (Usenet), retrieved 02 May 2022:
   • Don't get me wrong. Some regulations are probably contraproductive, but they should often not removed, but just changed. 2004 December 10, Andreas Pruch, “War on Drugs(tm) a failure”, in borland.public.off-topic (Usenet), retrieved 02 May 2022:
   • I think avoiding contraproductive behavior is a good guiding principle but it may be hard to determine. Sometimes one has to move out of a local maximum to find a better one but the heuristic may not always work--I cannot tell if there is water over the next hill until I make the journey. 2006 August 30, forbi...@msn.com, “Re: Shops in Crisis? The Tech Shortage”, in sci.econ (Usenet), retrieved 02 May 2022:
   • Underlying all this is a thread that suggests we should strive to "cooperate" with nature, and the aggression is generally contraproductive. 1984 December 19, d.skran, “Men/Hate, Women/Love.”, in net.women (Usenet), retrieved 02 May 2022:
   • Fey is for the pompous, oversensitive, ultra-elite; and thus the limp-wristed faggoty, swishing, exhibishionistic gays that are in the extreme stereotype of lifestyle that is contraproductive to evolution, let alone society. 1996 January 17, Warren Hall, “Disney corrupting youth again”, in alt.folklore.urban (Usenet), retrieved 02 May 2022:
   • But considering that the Jedi Order was alive and well for many generations, plus that Jedi aren't necessarily stupid enough to enforce their own extinction, they just won't make such a celibacy rule. It is contraproductive, and agains everything in human (and probably lots of other species') nature, plus love is an emotion that helps the light side. So why ban it? 2001 November 17, Ysanne, “Here we go again! (AotC spoilers)”, in alt.fan.wedge (Usenet), retrieved 02 May 2022:
   • I hope that Hamas and other groups can soon be convinced that their business is contraproductive to their interests. 2002 May 16, Raphael Fischer, “The Aggression Game”, in ch.soc.politics (Usenet), retrieved 02 May 2022:
   • In addition to this yesterday I heard, that your new president (I am from Germany) wants to give religious groups more influence again. This will be absolutely contraproductive in case of nudism! 2001 January 22, Peter Dost, “Bush's cabinet selection”, in alt.nudism.moderated (Usenet), retrieved 02 May 2022:
   • 'Contact' does not mean 'forcing the horse into a frame', it means 'keeping communication open between horse and rider'. Not the rider takes the contact, that would be invasive and contraproductive, the HORSE initiates it. The rider merely accepts. 1999 August 12, CATJA ALEXANDRA PAFORT, “My Mare's Problem & Mine (Long)”, in rec.equestrian (Usenet), retrieved 02 May 2022:
   • And has this American any authority to give people in Germany orders? Apart from that, isn't it rather contraproductive and immature to order such things? 1998 July 30, Ole Kreiberg, “What does this have to do with German Culture”, in soc.culture.german (Usenet), retrieved 02 May 2022:
   • The point is not that he writes about beta-version. I can stand this. The point is, that he is writing unbelievable , often contraproductive stuff about beta-versions, meanwhile he critisizes me to play with CSTal. He calls MY matches ADVERTISING and his stuff or praising religiously: information. 1997 July 29, mclane, “Chess Analysis Software”, in rec.games.chess.computer (Usenet), retrieved 02 May 2022:
   • So I think, that my point may have some value, because if Mat's memories consist mostly of sword-fighting experiences, and we assume, that they are useful in some way, they may also be contraproductive in another way. And if they have no influence alltogether, then the claim of "Unbeka", that Mat profits from them is naught. 1998 July 29, Markus Rasch, “Of Swords and Time”, in rec.arts.sf.written.robert-jordan (Usenet), retrieved 02 May 2022:

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