ˌsəb-ˈäp-tə-məl
as in unacceptable
falling short of a standard
yes, living on junk food generally means that you have a suboptimal diet
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Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of suboptimal
This is a bottleneck for graphics-intensive applications, resulting in suboptimal visual quality and lack of visuals required for financial visualizations, such as a display of real-time analytics in charts and graphs.
—
Pooja Jain, Forbes.com, 9 Apr. 2025
Without addressing these foundational issues, organizations risk creating a data swamp rather than a data lake and building AI systems on unstable ground, leading to suboptimal outcomes and wasted investments.
—Aj Bubb, Forbes, 21 Feb. 2025
Incomplete, outdated or otherwise biased data can lead to suboptimal decisions, potentially amplifying inequalities or exposing institutions to other risks.
—Tomer Guriel, Forbes, 25 Mar. 2025
None of these goals can be realized following the suboptimal landing, but data returned from MAPP's time in transit to the moon, in lunar orbit and on the surface validated a range of systems and components that will be useful for Lunar Orbit's upcoming missions.
—Andrew Jones, Space.com, 11 Mar. 2025
See All Example Sentences for suboptimal
Pooja Jain, Forbes.com, 9 Apr. 2025
Without addressing these foundational issues, organizations risk creating a data swamp rather than a data lake and building AI systems on unstable ground, leading to suboptimal outcomes and wasted investments.
—Aj Bubb, Forbes, 21 Feb. 2025
Incomplete, outdated or otherwise biased data can lead to suboptimal decisions, potentially amplifying inequalities or exposing institutions to other risks.
—Tomer Guriel, Forbes, 25 Mar. 2025
None of these goals can be realized following the suboptimal landing, but data returned from MAPP's time in transit to the moon, in lunar orbit and on the surface validated a range of systems and components that will be useful for Lunar Orbit's upcoming missions.
—Andrew Jones, Space.com, 11 Mar. 2025
See All Example Sentences for suboptimal
Recent Examples of Synonyms for suboptimal
Adjective
-
The first project yields too many false positives, introducing an unacceptable amount of friction into the consumer experience.—
Shazia Manus,
Forbes.com,
23 May 2025
-
But violence, vandalism or destruction of property are completely unacceptable.—
Nick Mordowanec,
MSNBC Newsweek,
21 May 2025
Adjective
-
This tactic is sometimes used to justify letting an employee go under the guise of poor performance.—
Sho Dewan,
Forbes.com,
24 May 2025
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The original doesn’t go that deeply into it, but this poor girl was essentially forced to be a teen mom at this time in her life when all of her friends would be graduating high school and dating and thinking about their futures.—
Patrick Ryan,
USA Today,
24 May 2025
Adjective
-
Ship was heading the wrong direction The training ship arrived at New York's Pier 17 and was open to the public to visit from May 13 to 17, according to the Mexican Consulate in New York.—
N'dea Yancey-Bragg,
USA Today,
19 May 2025
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In short, public school teachers believe K-12 education is on the wrong track.—
Bruno V. Manno,
Forbes.com,
18 May 2025
Adjective
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As holidays go, however, Flag Day can feel a bit lame.—
Kevin Fisher-Paulson,
San Francisco Chronicle,
8 June 2021
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My 11-year-old loved watching the pups roll balls and play a giant floor piano, but for non-dog owners (guilty as charged), parts of the series—like dressing dogs in little hats and outfits for a Parisian fashion show—feel lame.—
Tim Neville,
Outside Online,
23 Nov. 2020
Adjective
-
Men and women respond to the Nazi dictatorship by becoming, at best, evasive and feebly self-justifying, at worst, morally broken.—
David Denby,
New Yorker,
23 May 2025
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Glorifying motherhood, meanwhile, in practical terms, may only make mothers’ daily lives worse.—
Lily Meyer,
The Atlantic,
23 May 2025
Adjective
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He's been deficient as a one-on-one defender; inconsistent as a bench scorer.—
Bennett Durando,
Denver Post,
16 May 2025
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Every leader has the opportunity to assess their strength of character relative to the 11 dimensions and to understand whether what could be a virtue manifests as a deficient (underdeveloped) or an excess (unsupported) vice, which could compromise judgment and well-being.—
Mary Crossan,
Forbes.com,
8 May 2025
Adjective
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State auditors later concluded in October 2017 that the district, under Woodard’s leadership, had not only improperly authorized charter schools outside its boundaries but had conducted flawed oversight and reviews of charter petitions.—
Kristen Taketa,
San Diego Union-Tribune,
25 May 2025
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Even flawed testing provides valuable information — including how tests might be better written.—
Reader Commentary,
Baltimore Sun,
22 May 2025
Cite this Entry
“Suboptimal.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/suboptimal. Accessed 29 May. 2025.
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