uneconomical
Meaning
Not economical; wasteful of money or resources.
Structure
Usage
Leaving the lights on all day is highly uneconomical.
The plan was rejected on the grounds of being technically feasible but financially uneconomical.
An uneconomical use of fuel can significantly increase operating costs.
Etymology
The word 'uneconomical' is a modern English formation built upon the established adjective 'economical'. The core morpheme 'econom' traces back to the Greek 'oikonomia', a compound of 'oikos' (house) and 'nomos' (management, law), which originally described the prudent management of a household. The suffix '-ical' was later attached to form the adjective meaning "pertaining to such management." Finally, the Germanic negative prefix 'un-' is prefixed to invert the meaning, creating a term that literally means "not characterized by good household management," which in modern usage broadly denotes inefficiency or wastefulness in any resource context.
Analysis
- un: A prefix of Germanic (Old English) origin, meaning "not," used to form negatives. - econom: A morpheme derived from the Greek 'oikonomia' (household management), via Latin and French, representing the concept of economy or thrifty management. - ical: An adjective-forming suffix of Latin origin via French, meaning "pertaining to" or "characterized by."