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
Their default mode has been to run out the options clock, which seems entirely suboptimal.
—
Andrew Baggarly, New York Times, 8 Jan. 2026
The Apple deal was suboptimal for exposure and probably could have been tolerated financially.
—Jon Wilner, Mercury News, 19 Dec. 2025
Diversification can also lead to suboptimal choices.
—Tanvi Madan, Foreign Affairs, 16 Dec. 2025
However suboptimal the timing, few of these elections were close enough that even particularly influential podcasters could have swung them.
—W. James Antle Iii, The Washington Examiner, 6 Nov. 2025
See All Example Sentences for suboptimal
Andrew Baggarly, New York Times, 8 Jan. 2026
The Apple deal was suboptimal for exposure and probably could have been tolerated financially.
—Jon Wilner, Mercury News, 19 Dec. 2025
Diversification can also lead to suboptimal choices.
—Tanvi Madan, Foreign Affairs, 16 Dec. 2025
However suboptimal the timing, few of these elections were close enough that even particularly influential podcasters could have swung them.
—W. James Antle Iii, The Washington Examiner, 6 Nov. 2025
See All Example Sentences for suboptimal
Recent Examples of Synonyms for suboptimal
Adjective
-
The behavior's unacceptable, and so this is our way to try to end it or stop it, at least here in Manteca.—
Charlie Lapastora,
CBS News,
18 Feb. 2026
-
That is completely unacceptable.—
Howard Blume,
Los Angeles Times,
18 Feb. 2026
Adjective
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Policymakers globally are increasingly worried that the unequal adoption of AI risks widening income and development gaps between rich and poor countries.—
Hanna Ziady,
CNN Money,
18 Feb. 2026
-
In November, Jesse Jackon was hospitalized again after suffering a fall while protesting poor campus living conditions with students at Howard University.—
Mary Kekatos,
ABC News,
17 Feb. 2026
Adjective
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The pursuit ended after Nipp turned off his headlights and drove into the wrong lane in an attempt to lose the officers.—
Josh Kelly,
Oklahoman,
21 Feb. 2026
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What’s wrong with being uncomfortable and plowing through demanding texts that challenge us to think about bygone times, far-off places and painful emotions, poignantly expressed?—
Patricia Steckler,
Baltimore Sun,
21 Feb. 2026
Adjective
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Saying the house is like a character too sounds a bit lame.—
Los Angeles Times,
Los Angeles Times,
18 Feb. 2026
-
That huge war chest would be especially remarkable amassed by a lame-duck president.—
Susan Page,
USA Today,
16 Feb. 2026
Adjective
-
The dragon is said to scare away bad spirits and bring good luck.—
Staff report,
Daily News,
22 Feb. 2026
-
Weapon system autonomously detects and classifies moving targets The company revealed that the weapon system autonomously detects and classifies moving targets in poor visibility situations caused by darkness, bad weather, smoke or dust kicked up by helicopters.—
Prabhat Ranjan Mishra,
Interesting Engineering,
22 Feb. 2026
Adjective
-
Rain Precipitation might be Wuthering Heights the novel’s most canonical liquid as Northern England is a place where basically every single person and living creature is vitamin D deficient.—
Fran Hoepfner,
Vulture,
16 Feb. 2026
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And perhaps most important, by empowering Congress, not the president, to remedy deficient state electoral schemes, the Constitution prevents presidents from rewriting the election code by executive fiat and thus provides an additional safeguard against military dictatorship.—
Jeffrey Rosen,
The Atlantic,
16 Feb. 2026
Adjective
-
Isaacman stated that while Boeing manufactured the troubled spacecraft, the ultimate responsibility lies with NASA for accepting a flawed vehicle and risking the lives of two astronauts.—
Mrigakshi Dixit,
Interesting Engineering,
20 Feb. 2026
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The past two months have featured several high-profile data points that show the way college athletes earn money is flawed.—
Matt Baker,
New York Times,
19 Feb. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Suboptimal.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/suboptimal. Accessed 25 Feb. 2026.
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