ill-fitting
Americanadjective
-
(of a garment) not fitting well.
-
not appropriate or suitable.
Etymology
Origin of ill-fitting
First recorded in 1865–70; ill ( def. ) + fitting ( def. )
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.
It's also about the players he has confused and bewildered with his ill-fitting shape and the ideology he refuses to alter no matter how befuddled things become.
From BBC • Jan. 3, 2026
In others, he’s an imp hiding within an ill-fitting costume of normalcy.
From Salon • Oct. 13, 2025
For the past month, we’ve been sneaking out in the early morning—she in a Navy SEAL-worthy vest and me in one that looks like an ill-fitting lifejacket—as we supercharge our morning walk.
From The Wall Street Journal • Jun. 26, 2025
A black blazer, a white shirt buttoned to the top, and some manner of ill-fitting pants.
From Los Angeles Times • Feb. 28, 2025
“I’m simply saying, sir, that an ill-fitting suit—it does a man no favors.”
From "The Bletchley Riddle" by Ruta Sepetys and Steve Sheinkin
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.
