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unskillful

[ uhn-skil-fuhl ]

/ ʌnˈskɪl fəl /

SEE SYNONYMS FOR unskillful ON THESAURUS.COM

adjective

not skillful; clumsy or bungling.

Words nearby unskillful

unsinkable, unsized, unskilful, unskilled, unskilled labor, unskillful, unslaked lime, unsling, unsmiling, unsnag, unsnap

Also especially British, un·skil·ful.

Origin of unskillful

1350–1400; 1555–65 for current sense; Middle English unskylful unreasonable. See un-¹, skillful

SYNONYMS FOR unskillful

untrained, maladroit, inept.

SEE SYNONYMS FOR unskillful ON THESAURUS.COM

OTHER WORDS FROM unskillful

un·skill·ful·ly, adverbun·skill·ful·ness, noun

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for unskillful

No man could ascend it except at the southeast corner, and at that place a ladder or a rope was needed by the unskillful.
Heroes of the Middle West|Mary Hartwell Catherwood
They represented him as an unfaithful, or unskillful laborer in the gospel, and as one who was not a subject of divine grace.
Sermons on Various Important Subjects|Andrew Lee
People unused to the world have babbling countenances, and are unskillful enough to show what they have sense enough not to tell.
Library of the World's Best Literature, Ancient and Modern, Vol. 9|Various
As to Guano, it has not paid me; but that may be the fault of careless or unskillful application.
What I know of farming:|Horace Greeley

For every one that useth milk is unskillful in the word of righteousness; for he is but a babe.
Wit and Humor of the Bible|Marion D. Shutter

The
2019 WORD
OF THE YEAR is...