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uncompetitive

British  
/ ˌʌnkəmˈpɛtɪtɪv /

adjective

  1. not able or willing to compete

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

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."

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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.

See Examples For:

Aston Martin are 10th in the championship so far this season after producing an uncompetitive car, while engine partner Honda's power-unit is the least powerful on the grid.

From BBC ● Sep. 11, 2026

“If you have an uncompetitive tax system, you know, capital leaves the country,” he said, as he pointed to companies de-listing from the London Stock Exchange.

From MarketWatch ● Jul. 21, 2026

Lauer said Giftory's roughly 30 employees get a premium AI subscription costing about $200 a month -- "peanuts" stacked against an average salary of $100,000 a year, and cheap enough to make offshoring "uncompetitive."

From Barron's ● Jul. 17, 2026

Critics said expanding the World Cup roster to 48 countries would make the matches uncompetitive and boring.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 27, 2026

There was never a town so inimitably drowsy or so sternly uncompetitive.

From Michael by E. F. (Edward Frederic) Benson

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