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
- ineligibility noun
- ineligibleness noun
- ineligibly adverb
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.
Athletes will be reminded if there’s a strike, they can’t play on outside teams because if the strike ends, they would be declared ineligible.
From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 8, 2026
Jon Rahm is confident he will be in Europe's team to face the United States in next year's Ryder Cup despite currently being ineligible to play.
From BBC • Apr. 7, 2026
In doing so, the DOJ has asked the states to sign onto an agreement under which they agree to remove within 45 days any voters that the DOJ flags as ineligible.
From Salon • Apr. 3, 2026
According to the document, she was deemed "ineligible for the issue of a pass under current immigration policies".
From BBC • Mar. 27, 2026
If the movement had insisted on such a rule, most of its leaders, men such as Chief Luthuli, Moses Kotane, Dr. Dadoo, would have been ineligible.
From "Long Walk to Freedom" by Nelson Mandela
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.
