The quality of not working well or wasting time and resources; lack of efficiency.
From Latin 'inefficiens' (not effective) combining 'in-' (not) + 'efficiens' (effective). The English noun form solidified in the 1700s as industry and manufacturing demanded the vocabulary.
The word 'efficiency' became super important during the Industrial Revolution when factories started obsessing over productivity—and suddenly 'inefficiency' was born as the enemy of progress!
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