Not achieving very much.

Not achieving very much沒有達成什麼成效。

The clearest use is about time and effort: an unproductive meeting, an unproductive morning, an unproductive discussion that went round and round and settled nothing. The complaint is not that people were lazy but that the work did not turn into anything — you can be busy all day and still be unproductive, and that gap is exactly what the word points at.

The clearest use最清楚的用法 is about time and effort是關於時間和心力：an unproductive meeting, an unproductive morning, an unproductive discussion that went round and round and settled nothingunproductive meeting（沒有成效的會議）、unproductive morning（一個沒有成效的早上）、繞來繞去什麼都沒定案的unproductive discussion（沒有成效的討論）。The complaint這個抱怨要說的 is not that people were lazy不是大家很懶，but而是 that the work did not turn into anything那些努力沒有轉變成任何成果——you can be busy all day你可以忙一整天 and still be unproductive卻還是unproductive，and而 that gap這個落差 is exactly what the word points at正是這個字所指出的東西。

It also has a plainer, more physical use: unproductive land or unproductive soil grows little, an unproductive oil well yields little, an unproductive factory makes little for what it costs.

It它 also has a plainer, more physical use也有一種比較單純、比較實體的用法：unproductive land or unproductive soil grows littleunproductive land（貧瘠的土地）或unproductive soil（貧瘠的土壤）長不出什麼東西，an unproductive oil well yields littleunproductive oil well（低產量的油井）產量很少，an unproductive factory makes little for what it costsunproductive factory（低產能的工廠）投入的成本換來的產出很少。

Doctors use it in a phrase worth knowing on its own, an unproductive cough — a dry cough that brings nothing up.

Doctors醫生 use it in a phrase worth knowing on its own會用一個值得單獨記下來的詞組，an unproductive coughunproductive cough——a dry cough that brings nothing up也就是不會咳出東西的乾咳。

The word is neutral in tone, more like a measurement than an attack, which makes it useful at work: calling a meeting unproductive criticises the meeting, while calling your colleague unproductive criticises them, so people reach for it when they want to complain about a situation without blaming a person. It is mildly formal and very common in business English.

The word這個字 is neutral in tone語氣是中性的，more like a measurement than an attack比較像是一種測量，而不是攻擊，which makes it useful at work這讓它在職場上很好用：calling a meeting unproductive criticises the meeting說一場會議unproductive，批評的是那場會議，while而 calling your colleague unproductive criticises them說你的同事unproductive，批評的就是那個人，so所以 people reach for it人們就會拿它來用 when they want to complain about a situation without blaming a person當他們想抱怨一個狀況、又不想直接怪罪某個人的時候。It它 is mildly formal語氣稍微正式一點 and而 very common in business English在商業英文裡非常常見。