unsuccessful

[uhn-suhk-ses-fuhl]

adjective

1. not achieving or not attended with success.

   an unsuccessful person;

   an unsuccessful venture.

   Synonyms: baffled, foiled, unfortunate, hapless

unsuccessful

/ ˌʌnsəkˈsɛsfʊl /

adjective

1. not having succeeded

Other Word Forms

• unsuccessfully adverb
• unsuccessfulness noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of unsuccessful¹

First recorded in 1610–20; un- ¹ + successful

Example Sentences

But more often and more emphatically she has portrayed public schools as unsuccessful and unsafe — and has said she is determined to give parents other options.

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He told the BBC he does not want to "tear down" human rights laws, but backs changing how international law is interpreted to stop unsuccessful asylum seekers blocking their deportation.

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Mr Donald said he subsequently made numerous unsuccessful efforts to retrieve the money from Gavin and had been unable to get a response from his former landlord on many occasions.

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Rather filed an unsuccessful $70 million lawsuit against the network, and in the years that followed, he delivered a series of prescient warnings about the chilling effects of political appeasement.

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They have said efforts to negotiate with Republicans over these benefits have so far been unsuccessful.

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Related Words

• abortive 
• disastrous 
• doomed 
• failed 
• foiled 
• fruitless 
• futile 
• ill-fated 
• ineffective 
• ineffectual 
• losing 
• thwarted www.thesaurus.com
• useless 
• vain