uninhabitable
Britishadjective
Explanation
When it's impossible to live somewhere, that place is uninhabitable. A house is uninhabitable if is missing basic things like a roof and heat. Buildings are considered uninhabitable when they are dangerous, with holes in the floor, or exposed electrical wires that pose a fire hazard. It's not safe for people to live in those conditions. Uninhabitable regions of the world might be too cold or too hot — or, in the case of Brazil's Ilha da Queimada Grande, or "Snake Island," they might be overrun with venomous snakes.
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.
It could also make large areas of sovereign territory across the Pacific uninhabitable and force hundreds of millions of people worldwide to leave their homes.
From Science Daily ● Jul. 23, 2026
"It shows that an area that we now think is really uninhabitable was once actually very habitable and had this huge cast of characters living on it," explained Barrett.
From BBC ● Jun. 29, 2026
A residential complex once touted as part of former strongman leader Hugo Chavez's flagship housing program has been left uninhabitable in Venezuela's earthquake disaster.
From Barron's ● Jun. 29, 2026
Prime Minister Mark Carney announced a national design competition to restore 24 Sussex Drive, Canada’s uninhabitable official residence.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 26, 2026
Where the conventional view had been that lands close to the equator must be uninhabitable, this had turned out to be nonsense.
From "The Invention of Science" by David Wootton
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.
