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definitions

unreliable

[uhn-ri-lahy-uh-buhl]
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adjective

not reliable; not to be relied or depended on.

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RELATED WORDS

deception, defect, exaggeration, blunder, anxiety, vulnerability, weakness, fluctuation, uncertainty, insecurity, volatility, frailty, solecism, erratum, incorrectness, unfaithfulness, miscalculation, wrong, slip, fault

Nearby words

  1. unregistered,
  2. unregulated,
  3. unrehearsed,
  4. unrelated,
  5. unrelenting,
  6. unrelieved,
  7. unreligious,
  8. unremarkable,
  9. unremarked,
  10. unremitted

Origin of unreliable

First recorded in 1830–40; un-1 + reliable
Related formsun·re·li·a·bil·i·ty, un·re·li·a·ble·ness, nounun·re·li·a·bly, adverb
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for unreliability

British Dictionary definitions for unreliability

unreliable

adjective

not reliable; untrustworthyan unreliable witness
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
Word Origin and History for unreliability

unreliable

adj.

1840, from un- (1) "not" + reliable. First recorded in De Quincey, who said it was coined by Coleridge.

Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper