unsuitable
Americanadjective
adjective
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of unsuitable
Explanation
Something that's unsuitable doesn't work well or is out of place. A kitchen knife is unsuitable for sawing firewood. You can use the adjective unsuitable to describe something that isn't well suited for a use: flip flops are unsuitable shoes to wear in a blizzard. It's also a good word for something that's disappointing or undesirable: "No, that guy in the clown suit would be a completely unsuitable boyfriend for me." At the root of unsuitable is the meaning of suit, "be agreeable or convenient," that's thought to come from "provide a suit of clothes."
Vocabulary lists containing unsuitable
"The Bet" by Anton Chekhov
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Stuart Little
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Way Off: Synonyms for "Wrong"
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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.
"Abandonment wasn't because the site became ecologically unsuitable in any absolute sense. Bison were still around, vegetation hadn't changed, and there was no substantive shift in fire activities," Wendt pointed out.
From Science Daily • Jun. 11, 2026
"People can't find a house, so they have to continue to live in unsuitable housing or remain with family members when they really need their independence."
From BBC • Apr. 26, 2026
Hundreds of people turned up for the trial into the 2023 train collision that left 57 dead, leading to angry complaints from lawyers that the venue was "insultingly" unsuitable, and booing from family relatives.
From Barron's • Mar. 23, 2026
We were only legally able to limit the list as a result of Ms. Roth’s office raising whether some locations might be unsuitable.
From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 20, 2026
A bishop of Bath, under the imaginary Edward the First, was considered after due reflection to be an unsuitable man for the Archbishopric, because he had too many illegitimate children—not some, but too many.
From "The Once and Future King" by T. H. White
Definitions 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.
