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
Even professional fund managers, equipped with research and resources, often fall prey to these same psychological traps, resulting in suboptimal performance driven by emotional rather than rational decisions.
—
True Tamplin, Forbes.com, 10 Apr. 2025
From the beginning, production challenges included procuring resources and filming during suboptimal weather.
—Amber Dowling, IndieWire, 9 Apr. 2025
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
See All Example Sentences for suboptimal
True Tamplin, Forbes.com, 10 Apr. 2025
From the beginning, production challenges included procuring resources and filming during suboptimal weather.
—Amber Dowling, IndieWire, 9 Apr. 2025
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
See All Example Sentences for suboptimal
Recent Examples of Synonyms for suboptimal
Adjective
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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
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But Humane Society officials insist any cut over $1 million is unacceptable and will prompt the nonprofit to stop providing service to the city.—
David Garrick,
San Diego Union-Tribune,
21 May 2025
Adjective
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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 product was released in 2023 to a poor reception, and discontinued before the company began winding down operations in February.—
Tom Huddleston Jr.,
CNBC,
24 May 2025
Adjective
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But even putting O’Brien on notice would be an attempt to intimidate and silence a critic, which is plainly wrong.—
Sun Sentinel Editorial Board,
Sun Sentinel,
30 May 2025
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There’s a right way and a wrong way to do it Matt Sekerke is a managing director at SEDA Experts and senior macro advisor at Hiddenite Capital Partners.—
Matt Sekerke,
Fortune,
30 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
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Anything under par around here in these conditions isn't a bad score.—
Julio Cesar Valdera Morales,
MSNBC Newsweek,
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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Ars Video Whether the Take It Down Act can survive a potential constitutional challenge or not, the 48-hour timeline may be deficient for other reasons, though, victim testimony suggests.—
Ashley Belanger – May 19,
ArsTechnica,
19 May 2025
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The Church’s ‘Good Faith’ In court filings, Riverside denies wrongdoing and insists Holmes’ case is legally deficient.—
Michael McCann,
Sportico.com,
22 Apr. 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 7 Jun. 2025.
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