uncompetitive
Britishadjective
Explanation
Uncompetitive means not particularly motivated to win. If you have fun playing board games without caring who wins or loses, you're uncompetitive. While competitive people love to compete and want to be the very best at what they do, those who are uncompetitive just don't care as much about competition. This adjective can also be used to describe a business that can't quite make it: "The other frankfurter shops in town are much flashier — I'm afraid your hot dog cart will be uncompetitive."
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.
UBS executives have argued publicly against the additional capital requirements, saying they will make the bank’s business model uncompetitive and would erode Switzerland’s status as a global financial center.
From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 22, 2026
Coal is also uncompetitive against gas under the EU's carbon tax scheme.
From Barron's • Mar. 31, 2026
Alonso, 44, has already been in a similar situation with Honda at McLaren from 2015-17, when the engine was unreliable and uncompetitive for three years before the two parties split.
From BBC • Mar. 6, 2026
The same happened in 2024, from a lower starting point, and in 2025 they were simply uncompetitive, slipping to seventh in the championship from fifth the previous two years.
From BBC • Feb. 24, 2026
The 1959 deficit was caused in large part by the failure of our exports to penetrate foreign markets—the result both of restrictions on our goods and our own uncompetitive prices.
From State of the Union Address by Kennedy, John F. (John Fitzgerald)
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.
