unsatisfactory

play

adjective un·sat·is·fac·to·ry \ ˌən-ˌsa-təs-ˈfak-t(ə-)rē \

Definition of unsatisfactory

:not satisfactory

—

unsatisfactorily

play \ˌən-ˌsa-təs-ˈfak-t(ə-)rə-lē\ adverb

—

unsatisfactoriness

play \ˌən-ˌsa-təs-ˈfak-t(ə-)rē-nəs\ noun

See unsatisfactory defined for English-language learners

Examples of unsatisfactory in a Sentence

He was fired for unsatisfactory performance.
an unsatisfactory first attempt at building a birdhouse

Recent Examples of unsatisfactory from the Web

But what was surprising was that Trump insisted on spending a good half-hour revisiting in painful detail his three sets of comments — all of them unsatisfactory in one fashion or the other — about the violence in Charlottesville.

— ed kilgore, Daily Intelligencer, "Trump’s Rehash of His Charlottesville Remarks Was Deceitful and Self-Destructive," 23 Aug. 2017
They were courted and gulled by the Clintons and the Obamas and even today show little recognition of how unsatisfactory their administrations were in many respects.

— conrad black, National Review, "The Media ‘In Crowd’," 15 Aug. 2017
AHRC member John Burnham said that in past years, the race has had anywhere from six to 18 entries, but this year, there were only four, probably due to the race being postponed from late June due to unsatisfactory water testing results.

— annie gentile, Courant Community, "Fun, Funny Races Help Charitable Causes," 18 July 2017
Marlow did, however, find that Batie was in violation of rules and gave unsatisfactory performance by not correcting a culture of inappropriate behavior.

— caitlin doornbos, OrlandoSentinel.com, "Jury hears former Orange deputy's claims of religious discrimination," 7 July 2017
One other key difference: Faced with growing abuse by customers, REI a few years ago jettisoned its return-unsatisfactory-merchandise-anytime policy, limiting returns to a still-generous one year.

— rick romell, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, "L.L. Bean shows off new store in Brookfield, the retailer's first in Wisconsin," 29 June 2017
My white clay cat test creation was mostly unsatisfactory, while a fabric rose proved a bit better, if dark.

— bill loguidice, Ars Technica, "The pitfalls and potential of inexpensive 3D scanning solutions," 17 June 2017
Higher status dogs and wolves reacted more strongly and more quickly to not receiving treats or receiving unsatisfactory treats, suggesting that inequity is related to strong hierarchies in wolf and dog packs.

— jason daley, Smithsonian, "Wolves and Dogs Both Have a Sense of Fairness," 12 June 2017
Since Iraq’s founding, its Kurds have always had a difficult relationship with the central government; a series of revolts have either been crushed, sometimes with great brutality, or ended in unsatisfactory compromises.

— balint szlanko, The Seattle Times, "Iraqi Kurds to vote on independence in September," 7 June 2017

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'unsatisfactory.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.