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Fruitless vs Counterproductive - What's the difference?

fruitless | counterproductive |

As adjectives the difference between fruitless and counterproductive

is that fruitless is useless; unproductive while counterproductive is more of a hindrance than a help.

fruitless

English

Adjective

(en adjective)
  • Useless; unproductive.
  • The unskilled man's attempt at fixing his car engine was fruitless .
    {{quote-Fanny Hill, part=2 , At length, after repeated fruitless trials, he lay down panting by me, kiss'd my falling tears, and asked me tenderly what was the meaning of so much complaining? }}
  • Bearing no fruit; barren.
  • The fruitless woman desperately wanted to have children.
  • (rare) Without fruit.
  • * 1923 , The Homestead (issues 386-410, page 33)
  • The first fruits of the season were eagerly sought after, and everybody was thankful that once more dread winter with its unvarying monotony of fruitless meals was a thing of the past.
  • * 1966 , Joseph Irving Goodman, Diet and live (page 14)
  • the many individual claims as to the ideal diet , for instance, the high-carbohydrate diet, the milkless diet, the breadless diet, the meatless diet, the fruit diet or the fruitless diet, the high-protein or the low-protein diet, and innumerable variations.

    Synonyms

    * See also

    Derived terms

    * fruitlessly * fruitlessness

    counterproductive

    English

    Adjective

    (en adjective)
  • More of a hindrance than a help.