ill-fitting
Americanadjective
-
(of a garment) not fitting well.
-
not appropriate or suitable.
Etymology
Origin of ill-fitting
First recorded in 1865–70; ill ( def. ) + fitting ( def. )
Explanation
Clothes that are ill-fitting are too big or too small — or maybe too big in some places, and too small in others. Your ill-fitting pants may require a belt to keep them from falling down. An ill-fitting dress might be too short and too tight in the arms, and an ill-fitting suit might be big enough to fit two of you. When something fits, it's the proper size and shape for your body, and when it doesn't fit, it's ill-fitting. This adjective combines ill-, "badly" or "not well," with fitting, from the verb fit, "be fitting or proper" and "be the right shape."
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.
Instead, gazing back at me was a 44-year-old mom in an ill-fitting fleece, the style just as unflattering as it was all those years ago.
From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 25, 2026
There were men in leather jackets, women in bedazzled red hats, young guys in ill-fitting suits.
From Slate • Dec. 8, 2025
In others, he’s an imp hiding within an ill-fitting costume of normalcy.
From Salon • Oct. 13, 2025
In the end, it was the most ill-fitting of send-offs.
From BBC • Mar. 8, 2025
I can remember as though I wore it still my comfortable, ill-fitting flannel suit, and how the skirt was lighter than the coat through harder wear.
From "Rebecca" by Daphne du Maurier
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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.