unsuccessful
adjective
un·suc·cess·ful
ˌən-sək-ˈses-fəl 
: not successful : not meeting with or producing success
Synonyms
Examples of unsuccessful in a Sentence
His last novel was unsuccessful.
an unsuccessful attempt to fix the faucet ourselves
Recent Examples on the Web
The assignment of boarding zones, meant to quell the crowd, has heretofore been unsuccessful due to a lack of enforcement on the part of the airlines.
—
Charlie Hobbs, Condé Nast Traveler, 25 Oct. 2024
Over the following decades, efforts to resolve the criminal case and extradite him have been unsuccessful.
—Ellise Shafer, Variety, 23 Oct. 2024
Key Background Giuliani led Trump’s legal team in the wake of the 2020 election, helping bring ultimately unsuccessful lawsuits on the ex-president’s behalf and lobbying state lawmakers to reject their states’ results.
—Alison Durkee, Forbes, 22 Oct. 2024
An unsuccessful 2012 campaign to unseat former Justice John Pelander was the first of its kind.
—Stacey Barchenger, The Arizona Republic, 18 Oct. 2024
See all Example Sentences for unsuccessful 
Charlie Hobbs, Condé Nast Traveler, 25 Oct. 2024
Over the following decades, efforts to resolve the criminal case and extradite him have been unsuccessful.
—Ellise Shafer, Variety, 23 Oct. 2024
Key Background Giuliani led Trump’s legal team in the wake of the 2020 election, helping bring ultimately unsuccessful lawsuits on the ex-president’s behalf and lobbying state lawmakers to reject their states’ results.
—Alison Durkee, Forbes, 22 Oct. 2024
An unsuccessful 2012 campaign to unseat former Justice John Pelander was the first of its kind.
—Stacey Barchenger, The Arizona Republic, 18 Oct. 2024
See all Example Sentences for unsuccessful
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'unsuccessful.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Dictionary Entries Near unsuccessful
Cite this Entry
“Unsuccessful.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/unsuccessful. Accessed 31 Oct. 2024.
Copy CitationKids Definition
unsuccessful
adjective
un·suc·cess·ful
ˌən(t)-sək-ˈses-fəl
: not successful : not having or producing success
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