Ineffective

How to spell ineffective

11 letters · 4 syllables

How to pronounce ineffective

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does ineffective mean?

1. adjectiveNot producing the intended or desired result.

Ineffective in a sentence

• The new policy proved completely ineffective at reducing waiting times.

• Cheap padlocks are ineffective against a determined thief.

Where does ineffective come from?

Language of origin: Latin

This word is built from the negative prefix in-, meaning 'not', joined to 'effective', which traces back to the Latin verb efficere, 'to bring about' or 'to accomplish'. That verb combined ex-, meaning 'out', with facere, meaning 'to make or do', so the literal idea was of making something come out or come to pass. The past participle effectus gave English 'effect', the result that is produced, and 'effective' came to describe something that successfully produces such a result. By prefixing in-, English formed a word meaning the opposite: failing to produce the intended result. The same facere root sits inside a huge family of everyday words such as 'factory', 'manufacture' and 'perfect', and the doubled letters in the middle (the 'ff' where ex- assimilated to ef- before the f of facere) are the spelling trap worth remembering.

How the word is built

• in- (not)
• ef- (variant of ex-: out)
• fect (from facere: to make or do)
• -ive (adjective suffix)