unenviable

adjective

un·​en·​vi·​able ˌən-ˈen-vē-ə-bəl 

: not desirable or pleasant : not arousing envy : not enviable

an unenviable position

Kent Alterman, our director, had the unenviable task of herding cats.

—Will Ferrell

Examples of unenviable in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Mitchell was in an unenviable situation after last season’s trade because Wilson was injured and the Jets were essentially out of contention at 1-7. — Antwan Staley, New York Daily News, 25 Aug. 2026

Hathaway was dealt the unenviable task of embodying director James Gray’s mother in Armageddon Time, an autobiographical drama based on his childhood. — Chris Bellamy, Entertainment Weekly, 14 Aug. 2026

The staff had the unenviable task of picking only 65 candidates. — Michael Lewis, Forbes.com, 10 Aug. 2026

Last season, Carrick had the unenviable task of divvying up minutes across a bare-bones schedule. — Cerys Jones, New York Times, 2 Aug. 2026

Word History

First Known Use

1641, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for unenviable

• friable
• agreeable
• foreseeable
• disagreeable
• unforeseeable