How to Use unreliable in a Sentence

unreliable

adjective
  • And then he, too, is gone, as shifty and unreliable as his words.
    Justin Chang, The New Yorker, 14 June 2024
  • Even the words that did present themselves could seem odd and unreliable.
    Graham Swift, The New Yorker, 14 Nov. 2022
  • The problem, the researchers said, is that many of those projects are unreliable and overpromise.
    Nicole Goodkind, Fortune, 7 Feb. 2022
  • The staff warned me not to expect it again; supply was very unreliable.
    Ahmed Ali Akbar, Chicago Tribune, 16 Oct. 2024
  • Both movies open on a death — one real, the other a hoax — and seek to take us back through time with the aid of an unreliable narrator.
    Maureen Lee Lenker, EW.com, 7 Mar. 2023
  • Much of what the two men say about what’s happening in the rest of their lives is unreliable, based in fantasy or in lies.
    Helen Shaw, The New Yorker, 21 Oct. 2022
  • If the eye is an unreliable narrator, what are we left with?
    Laird Borrelli-Persson, Vogue, 30 Jan. 2023
  • One of the most common is that the output of these systems is simply unreliable.
    James Vincent, The Verge, 5 Jan. 2023
  • But the company does not use fact-checks to keep ads off of pages with unreliable or harmful claims.
    Craig Silverman, ProPublica, 29 Oct. 2022
  • But the game’s use of these gestures felt awkward and unreliable, and the experience was short and on-rails.
    Adi Robertson, The Verge, 27 Sep. 2023
  • China has seized on the turmoil to taunt the U.S. and label it an unreliable partner.
    Compiled Democrat-Gazette Staff From Wire Reports, Arkansas Online, 26 Aug. 2021
  • Rising sophomores Frankie Collins and Kobe Bufkin played bit roles for most of the season and proved unreliable beyond the 3-point line.
    Michael Cohen, Detroit Free Press, 29 Apr. 2022
  • In any case, the Giants are simply unreliable right now.
    Richard Morin, USA TODAY, 16 Dec. 2022
  • Atlanta is one of the bellwethers of the league, so using them as a measuring stick for all 30 clubs in MLB is unreliable.
    Maury Brown, Forbes, 4 Nov. 2021
  • They are left with one slow and unreliable train a day between Springfield and Boston.
    Tom Condon, courant.com, 6 Sep. 2021
  • Once known as one of the best defenders in the sport, Rizzo’s defense became unreliable towards the end of the season.
    Ryan Canfield, Fox News, 2 Nov. 2024
  • China has seized on the turmoil to taunt the United States and label it an unreliable partner.
    Washington Post, 25 Aug. 2021
  • The reports have come from only a small number of users, most of them talking about it on Reddit, which can be an unreliable source.
    Boone Ashworth, WIRED, 24 Feb. 2024
  • The notion that there is some sort of immutable gold standard for truthful acting is deeply unreliable: cometh the hour, cometh the actor.
    Simon Callow, The New York Review of Books, 3 Aug. 2022
  • Then the Rangers’ bullpen (which at first had pitched well in relief of starter Nathan Eovaldi) reverted back to its unreliable self.
    Shawn McFarland, Dallas News, 10 Sep. 2023
  • So far this week, the Diamondbacks have not pitched well and their defense has been unreliable at best and sloppy at worst.
    Nick Piecoro, The Arizona Republic, 17 May 2022
  • Is Demko too unreliable with his health that his cap hit would be better spent upgrading the forward group?
    Harman Dayal, New York Times, 3 Apr. 2025
  • Jake Nolan was a very unreliable narrator of this event.
    CBS News, 5 Nov. 2022
  • Equally disturbing, the snow might cause the roads to become slick and unreliable for traction.
    Lance Eliot, Forbes, 20 Jan. 2022
  • Regardless, the ground game has been unreliable, to put it nicely.
    Alec Lewis, The Athletic, 21 Jan. 2025
  • The United States has proven itself to be an an unreliable business and strategic partner in this case.
    Ariel Cohen, Forbes, 10 June 2021
  • The bloodline can be an unreliable thing, and cruel sometimes.
    Greg Cote, Miami Herald, 29 Feb. 2024
  • As unreliable as he was unwieldy (at 25 feet long), Bruce was allergic to salt, named after a lawyer, and unable to float on his own.
    Debby Wolfinsohn, EW.com, 16 Nov. 2022
  • There were days their hitters faltered, their starters struggled, their relievers were unreliable.
    Marc Topkin, The Orlando Sentinel, 21 Apr. 2025
  • Early polling is often deemed unreliable as the political climate is rapidly changing.
    Lauren Green, The Washington Examiner, 4 Apr. 2025

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'unreliable.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

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