unreliable
Americanadjective
adjective
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of unreliable
Explanation
Someone unreliable can't be trusted to do something. Things can be unreliable too, like a bike with a wobbly wheel. The word "rely" is a clue to what unreliable means. When you can rely on something, you can count in it — it's reliable. On the other hand, you'd better not count on an unreliable person. People can be unreliable because they're dishonest, always late, bad at their job, or just inconsistent. Things can be unreliable because they're broken or old. A train schedule can be unreliable if the trains are never on time. Unfortunately, there's a lot of stuff in life that's unreliable, so be careful.
Vocabulary lists containing unreliable
STAAR English I: Elements of Literature
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STAAR English II: Elements of Literature 1
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Point of View
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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.
According to the complaint, Prabhakar had taught the story for nearly a decade without incident and used it in a unit on unsympathetic and unreliable narrators alongside works by Ernest Hemingway and Raymond Carver.
From Salon ● Aug. 2, 2026
Adding in unreliable or inaccurate government data reporting is “like driving one more nail into the proverbial coffin,” he said.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 18, 2026
The monsoon has started, the seas are rough, and the boats - usually old fishing trawlers converted to carry as many people as possible - are barely sea-worthy with unreliable engines.
From BBC ● Jul. 17, 2026
The trial judge had previously ruled that reports by experts including Dr. Andrea Baccarelli, the dean of Harvard University’s public health school, cherry-picked results and were unreliable.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 13, 2026
The accused has blood on his clothes, but he is a butcher; the testimony is explicit, but the witness is unreliable.
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.
