Inefficient

How to spell inefficient

11 letters · 4 syllables

How to pronounce inefficient

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does inefficient mean?

1. adjectiveFailing to achieve the best results for the time, money, or effort used; wasteful.

Inefficient in a sentence

• The old boiler was so inefficient that the heating bills doubled.

• Their inefficient filing system meant nobody could find a contract quickly.

Where does inefficient come from?

Language of origin: Latin

The word builds on 'efficient', which English took in the late 1300s from the Latin efficientem, the present participle of efficere meaning 'to work out, accomplish, or bring about'. That verb was formed from ex- meaning 'out' and facere meaning 'to make or do', so its literal sense was 'making something happen'. The negative prefix in-, meaning 'not', was attached in English around the early 1700s to describe a person or process that fails to produce a good result for the effort spent. The same facere root sits inside a whole family of everyday words such as 'factory', 'manufacture', and 'effect', all sharing the idea of doing or making. A useful spelling cue is that the prefix doubles into 'ef-' before the f, giving the double f, while the ending is the soft '-cient' rather than '-tient'.

How the word is built

• in- (not)
• ef- (variant of ex-: out)
• fic (from facere: to make, do)
• -ient (adjective ending)