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. )
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.
Wearing an ill-fitting hooded sweatshirt, with gray stubbles and baggy eyes, he didn’t look like a typical upscale tourist.
From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 28, 2026
For an hour he'd been little more than a keen if ill-fitting presence in the Celtic attack.
From BBC • Jan. 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
He used his Yiddish like a secondhand suit, something worn at the elbows, ill-fitting, and a touch unpleasant.
From "The City Beautiful" by Aden Polydoros
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.
