ill-equipped
Americanadjective
-
badly or inadequately equipped.
an ill-equipped army.
-
ill-prepared.
a student ill-equipped to begin calculus.
Etymology
Origin of ill-equipped
First recorded in 1955–60
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.
State agencies, however, were ill-equipped to accommodate the order.
From Los Angeles Times • Feb. 22, 2026
If you do end up with an ill-equipped manager, there are likely lessons to be learned from that experience, too, as you move to find a better fit elsewhere.
From MarketWatch • Dec. 30, 2025
Similarly, the U.S. electric grid is rapidly aging and ill-equipped to handle the massive increase in demand from AI and advanced manufacturing.
From The Wall Street Journal • Oct. 13, 2025
This came after manager Nuno Espirito Santo had questioned the club's transfer process on Friday, feeling his squad is ill-equipped to handle a European campaign.
From BBC • Aug. 18, 2025
Both of them overburdened and ill-equipped, weak by nature or circumstance, married to strong-willed, selfish men, addicted to the opiate of sleep.
From "Orphan Train" by Christina Baker Kline
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.
