unpalatable
Americanadjective
-
not palatable; unpleasant to the taste.
-
disagreeable or unacceptable; obnoxious.
unpalatable behavior.
adjective
-
unpleasant to taste
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difficult to accept
the unpalatable truth
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of unpalatable
Explanation
Use the adjective unpalatable to describe something that tastes really bad, like a glass of unsweetened lemonade. Food is unpalatable if it tastes or smells terrible, but other non-edible things can also be described this way, if just thinking about them makes you cringe. You might find it unpalatable that some people starve while others have much more than they need, for example. Unpalatable is the antonym of palatable, meaning "good-tasting." It all started with the Latin root word palatum, meaning "roof of the mouth."
Vocabulary lists containing unpalatable
Power Prefix: un-
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"Letter to Viceroy, Lord Irwin," Vocabulary from the argument
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"Letter to Viceroy, Lord Irwin" by Mohandas K. Gandhi
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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.
These aren’t difficult or unpalatable breakfasts, but simply different — and nutritious — ones.
From MarketWatch ● Jun. 21, 2026
On offer Thursday were unpalatable choices for a president eager to move on from the conflict he started.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 2, 2026
The final scene, in which Titus enters dressed as a chef, a cream puff of a toque jauntily placed on his head—he’s baked those unpalatable pies—retains its deranged tone.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 1, 2026
As he’s classically rendered, Soames verges on unpalatable.
From Salon ● Mar. 28, 2026
Leaving aside species with small or unpalatable seeds, they picked out 23 of the most palatable and largest-seeded wild grasses.
From "Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies" by Jared M. Diamond
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.
