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

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

This of course gives the Charger the unenviable distinction of being a vehicle that is both statistically more dangerous to be inside in the event of a crash, as well as increasing the chances of another driver dying whenever one is involved. — Adam Ismail, The Drive, 30 July 2026

Young found himself in the unenviable position of sitting around and just waiting to see if his score was good enough. — Dan Zaksheske, FOXNews.com, 19 July 2026

The Dark Knight Rises (2012) Tom Hardy is marvelous as the menacing terrorist Bane and pulls off the unenviable task of having to follow Heath Ledger’s Joker. — James Hibberd, HollywoodReporter, 16 July 2026

Word History

First Known Use

1641, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for unenviable

• friable
• agreeable
• foreseeable
• disagreeable
• unforeseeable