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.
Unsuitable temporary accommodation can include unsafe B&Bs and properties far away from family and friends.
From BBC • Nov. 9, 2025
Unsuitable for sensitive viewers: “The Cleaners” are the outsourced censors who scrub questionable content from social media in this new documentary on “Independent Lens.”
From Los Angeles Times • Nov. 9, 2018
Among her parade of Unsuitable Men the poet walks, herself not entirely the most Suitable of Women, but not afraid to say so.
From The Guardian • May 21, 2013
Unsuitable for most agriculture, it has largely been left alone even as humans have transformed the rest of the planet.
From Washington Post
Unsuitable environmental conditions that delay the nesting season and retard the rate of embryonic development may, in some years, be important limiting factors on populations of ornate box turtles.
From Natural History of the Ornate Box Turtle, Terrapene ornata ornata Agassiz by Legler, John M.
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.
