unwinnable
Britishadjective
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not able to be won or achieved
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(of a seat in an election) not able to be taken from the incumbent or the incumbent's party
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.
“The public held him responsible for having plunged Japan into the ‘misery’ of an unwinnable war,” Mr. Mauch writes.
From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 6, 2026
People thought that case was unwinnable, and we won, and we won in a big way.
From Slate • Oct. 18, 2025
On the one hand, I’m fighting an unwinnable battle against awkward architecture armed only with pigmented latex, and stopping now would be surrender.
From Los Angeles Times • Jun. 3, 2024
In an interview, Nations did not deny BP’s allegations but said the cases were unwinnable without an adequate expert witness.
From Seattle Times • Apr. 18, 2024
It has one of the highest Indigenous populations in Australia, but from the start of the campaign it's been labelled as an unwinnable state.
From BBC • Oct. 12, 2023
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.
