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
There are driver-specific factors that also increase safety risk on Houston highways, such as fatigue, distracted driving, speeding on suboptimal roads, and insufficient training.
—
Wyles Daniel, USA TODAY, 27 Feb. 2026
They are used in commercial and residential real estate deals that require speed or flexibility for borrowers with suboptimal credit scores or other conditions that might bar them from securing traditional loans.
—Susie Neilson, San Francisco Chronicle, 26 Feb. 2026
Put aside that Anthropic is said to actually be a Workday client; this company was wracked by a not-so-hot last quarter, one that prompted the return of Aneel Bhusri and the exit of Carl Eschenbach, who was viewed by Wall Street as a suboptimal CEO.
—Jim Cramer, CNBC, 20 Feb. 2026
Inadequate application may increase the likelihood of graft handling issues or suboptimal density distribution.
—Daniel Fusch, jsonline.com, 13 Feb. 2026
See All Example Sentences for suboptimal
Wyles Daniel, USA TODAY, 27 Feb. 2026
They are used in commercial and residential real estate deals that require speed or flexibility for borrowers with suboptimal credit scores or other conditions that might bar them from securing traditional loans.
—Susie Neilson, San Francisco Chronicle, 26 Feb. 2026
Put aside that Anthropic is said to actually be a Workday client; this company was wracked by a not-so-hot last quarter, one that prompted the return of Aneel Bhusri and the exit of Carl Eschenbach, who was viewed by Wall Street as a suboptimal CEO.
—Jim Cramer, CNBC, 20 Feb. 2026
Inadequate application may increase the likelihood of graft handling issues or suboptimal density distribution.
—Daniel Fusch, jsonline.com, 13 Feb. 2026
See All Example Sentences for suboptimal
Recent Examples of Synonyms for suboptimal
Adjective
-
Clearly, those are unacceptable results.—
Chris Perkins,
Sun Sentinel,
15 Apr. 2026
-
Trump, back in Washington, told the New York Post that even the deal Vance brought was unacceptable.—
Eva Roytburg,
Fortune,
15 Apr. 2026
Adjective
-
These closures reflect various factors, including poor investment returns, a lack of government support for refinery upgrades and higher carbon and energy costs.—
Ian King,
CNBC,
15 Apr. 2026
-
After McCandless and her council colleagues approved the sweeping tax breaks, King consistently spoke on how its planning process exemplified poor communication from the city, saying that current leaders should have advocated for a better deal for Independence.—
Kansas City Star,
Kansas City Star,
14 Apr. 2026
Adjective
-
Now 43-38, Charlotte has lost ground this week with difficult losses to Boston and Detroit that followed the same blueprint, as the Hornets fell off a cliff in the fourth quarter at the wrong time.—
Scott Fowler,
Charlotte Observer,
11 Apr. 2026
-
Overfertilizing Fertilizing too much or at the wrong time could potentially damage plant roots, leading to leaf damage and eventual drop.—
Alexandra Jones,
The Spruce,
11 Apr. 2026
Adjective
-
Unlike most lame-duck governors, California’s Gavin Newsom seems ascendant.—
Philip Elliott,
Time,
15 Apr. 2026
-
There wasn’t much the voters could do with a menu so lame.—
Rob Sheffield,
Rolling Stone,
15 Apr. 2026
Adjective
-
Kawhi Leonard sat out for the Clippers to rest ankle and wrist injuries, while Draymond Green was out for the Warriors with a bad back.—
CBS News,
CBS News,
13 Apr. 2026
-
Was Paul’s effect on history, incalculably large, good or bad on the whole?—
Adam Gopnik,
New Yorker,
13 Apr. 2026
Adjective
-
But with these recent iterations of the Heat, that overriding faith has proved damaging, creating a deficient team (Miami’s 23-32 against top-10 seeds) and diminished trade assets and leaving the franchise stuck in a play-in abyss with no clear escape route.—
Barry Jackson,
Miami Herald,
10 Apr. 2026
-
But in 2026, that savings account has been woefully deficient.—
Imtiaz Rangwala,
Denver Post,
8 Apr. 2026
Adjective
-
Although in the hours before splashdown, all eyes were on their spacecraft’s heat shield — which NASA previously said was flawed, according to The New York Times — NASA developed a modified path for the Artemis II mission in order to keep the crew safe during re-entry.—
Abigail Adams,
PEOPLE,
11 Apr. 2026
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Late payments for major construction projects, expenditures listed in the wrong fiscal year and a flawed budgeting process are just some of the financial problems Groveland needs to fix, the Lake County city’s mayor said in an unusual presentation this week.—
James Wilkins,
The Orlando Sentinel,
11 Apr. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Suboptimal.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/suboptimal. Accessed 18 Apr. 2026.
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