unsuitable
Americanadjective
adjective
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of unsuitable
Explanation
Something that's unsuitable doesn't work well or is out of place. A kitchen knife is unsuitable for sawing firewood. You can use the adjective unsuitable to describe something that isn't well suited for a use: flip flops are unsuitable shoes to wear in a blizzard. It's also a good word for something that's disappointing or undesirable: "No, that guy in the clown suit would be a completely unsuitable boyfriend for me." At the root of unsuitable is the meaning of suit, "be agreeable or convenient," that's thought to come from "provide a suit of clothes."
Vocabulary lists containing unsuitable
"The Bet" by Anton Chekhov
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Stuart Little
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Way Off: Synonyms for "Wrong"
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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.
Tourists can face infectious diseases, accidents, injuries, violence, unsafe food or water, and other risks linked to poor planning or unsuitable travel choices.
From Science Daily • May 4, 2026
In response to a contract dispute, the Pentagon declared Anthropic a supply-chain risk unsuitable for military work, increasing the urgency of offering other models to servicemembers in classified settings.
From The Wall Street Journal • May 1, 2026
The United States told the WTO last December that it considers the principle "unsuitable for this era".
From Barron's • Mar. 20, 2026
She said a cooling system fitted in the mortuary was not working and was unsuitable anyway because of the size of the room.
From BBC • Feb. 19, 2026
The final result covered almost fifteen acres and was the largest earthen structure in the Western Hemisphere; though built out of unsuitable material in a floodplain, it has stood for a thousand years.
From "1491" by Charles C. Mann
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.
