ineligible
Americanadjective
-
not eligible; not permitted or suitable.
Employees are ineligible in this contest.
- Synonyms:
- unsuitable
-
legally disqualified to hold an office.
-
legally disqualified to function as a juror, voter, witness, etc., or to become the recipient of a privilege.
noun
adjective
noun
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of ineligible
Explanation
To be ineligible is to not qualify for something. When you're eligible for something — like a contest — you are allowed to enter. Being ineligible is the opposite; it means that you can't enter or participate in something. After a certain age, children are ineligible for playing Little League baseball. Students below a certain grade point average are ineligible for scholarships. People born outside the United States are ineligible to run for President. If you want to know who's eligible and ineligible for something, check the rules or laws.
Vocabulary lists containing ineligible
Set, Hut! Football Vocabulary
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American Football, 3rd Quarter
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
The ECI has rejected allegations of impropriety, saying the revision was intended to remove duplicate and ineligible voters.
From Barron's ● Oct. 10, 2026
Zhao and his immediate family members will be ineligible for entry into the United States, Washington said.
From Barron's ● Oct. 7, 2026
Any excess contribution has to be removed from the receiving IRA and pretax funds in the ineligible rollover are taxable.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 29, 2026
Elgin City won the 1992-93 Highland League, but were later stripped of the title after having been found to have fielded ineligible players.
From BBC ● Sep. 26, 2026
I asked what was to become of the young writers whom the Communist party had implored to join the clubs and who were ineligible for the new group, and there was no answer.
From "Black Boy" by Richard Wright
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Get a wordDefinitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
