How to Use suboptimal in a Sentence

suboptimal

adjective

• But the overall point is valid, looks like suboptimal surgery.
  — Gordon G. Chang, Newsweek, 11 Dec. 2024
• This can be caused by all sorts of factors, including suboptimal blood flow.
  — Amber Smith, Discover Magazine, 21 Dec. 2022
• Rotations can shrink in the playoffs, but having to tax the starters just to get there is suboptimal.
  — Eric Koreen, New York Times, 23 Mar. 2026
• Investment and tax strategies that may have served you well for many years could now be suboptimal for the future.
  — Michael J. Francis, Star Tribune, 24 July 2021
• That decision may have been the correct one, but the timing was suboptimal and the specifics were worse.
  — Sean Gentille, New York Times, 1 May 2026
• The downside is that the auto-switcher could make a suboptimal choice on your behalf.
  — Lance Eliot, Forbes.com, 7 Aug. 2025
• Their default mode has been to run out the options clock, which seems entirely suboptimal.
  — Andrew Baggarly, New York Times, 8 Jan. 2026
• Decisions based on cost alone can lead to suboptimal outcomes.
  — Justin Rende, Forbes, 29 Mar. 2024
• Even this season, the Vikings faced off against the Lions at a suboptimal time.
  — Alec Lewis, The Athletic, 1 Jan. 2025
• There was the athletic-looking youth whose slow amble blocked the walking path so no one else could pass—suboptimal.
  — Lucy Liu, WIRED, 1 Mar. 2023
• And there are a ton of reasons that’s a suboptimal situation.
  — Paul Stephen, ExpressNews.com, 26 Dec. 2020
• Even when working parents know their childcare options are suboptimal, their kids still need to go somewhere.
  — Kendra Hurley, The New Republic, 19 Oct. 2021
• McCarthy’s torn meniscus came at a suboptimal time.
  — Alec Lewis, New York Times, 20 Aug. 2025
• The result is a frenzied game of footsie that can produce suboptimal deals, or none at all, but ties everyone in knots for a while.
  — Liz Hoffman, semafor.com, 24 July 2025
• With the emergence of Waymo, at last, this suboptimal rubric has overstayed its welcome.
  — Jim Cramer, CNBC, 27 Oct. 2024
• That set up the long, suboptimal, 51-yard attempt by Campbell.
  — Tyler Tachman, The Indianapolis Star, 18 Sep. 2022
• Twenty minutes on the floor beats two hours of suboptimal thinking or subpar performance on the field.
  — Julian Hayes Ii, Forbes.com, 22 May 2026
• The United States spends more per capita on health care, with suboptimal outcomes.
  — Christina Smith, Baltimore Sun, 9 June 2025
• But a suboptimal response that’s ready to go, many scientists think, is better than waiting for the body to create one from scratch.
  — Carolyn Y. Johnson, Anchorage Daily News, 23 Aug. 2022
• The challenge is so frustrating for brands that most programs adopt a suboptimal design based on a simple earn and burn structure.
  — Christian Selchau-Hansen, Forbes, 18 Mar. 2022
• There will be a natural temptation, though, to kick the can with a suboptimal nuclear deal, which would be a mistake.
  — The Editors, National Review, 17 Apr. 2025
• That ended a run of suboptimal travel for players and management.
  — Globe Staff, BostonGlobe.com, 3 Apr. 2023
• How do pro-Trump forces intend to address these suboptimal conditions?
  — Noah Rothman, National Review, 22 Jan. 2024
• Markowitz isn’t the only one who feels that the IRS guidance is a suboptimal response.
  — Amber Gray-Fenner, Forbes, 14 Feb. 2023
• But some groups are more equipped than others to find some degree of success amid otherwise suboptimal circumstances.
  — Usa Today Sports, USA TODAY, 7 Dec. 2020
• Hong was stunned to learn that his strategy of scoring Tetrises by dropping long bars into a left-side gap was suboptimal.
  — Jacob Sweet, The New Yorker, 26 Mar. 2021
• Even so, few candidates take advantage of the rule, because the optics of using campaign funds to pay the gas bill are suboptimal.
  — Yvonne Abraham, BostonGlobe.com, 31 May 2023
• A little under 30 hours ago, a day of suboptimal health for Sinner and the Paris heatwave did their work.
  — Matthew Futterman, New York Times, 29 May 2026
• This can lead to slow responses, suboptimal trade-offs and undisciplined reactions.
  — Tom Strohl, Forbes.com, 15 Sep. 2025
• The home-and-home approach is wholly unprecedented and slightly suboptimal.
  — Jon Wilner, San Diego Union-Tribune, 14 May 2026