as in unfit
lacking qualities (as knowledge, skill, or ability) required to do a job
a celebrated author of serious plays, he turned out to be a particularly unable writer of comedies
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Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of unable
Irwin says that speed can make all the difference when someone is lost, injured or unable to call for help.
—
Kelly Werthmann, CBS News, 27 Feb. 2026
For some, that means waking up in the middle of the night or early in the morning, unable to sleep.
—Ashley Olivine, Verywell Health, 27 Feb. 2026
The county’s shelter is already at capacity and unable to take additional individuals.
—Lynne Hermansen, Kansas City Star, 27 Feb. 2026
The Herald/Times was unable to reach Joy Zuraff for comment.
—Lawrence Mower, Miami Herald, 27 Feb. 2026
See All Example Sentences for unable
Kelly Werthmann, CBS News, 27 Feb. 2026
For some, that means waking up in the middle of the night or early in the morning, unable to sleep.
—Ashley Olivine, Verywell Health, 27 Feb. 2026
The county’s shelter is already at capacity and unable to take additional individuals.
—Lynne Hermansen, Kansas City Star, 27 Feb. 2026
The Herald/Times was unable to reach Joy Zuraff for comment.
—Lawrence Mower, Miami Herald, 27 Feb. 2026
See All Example Sentences for unable
Recent Examples of Synonyms for unable
Adjective
-
Abbott has blasted Miller as unfit for office.—
Gromer Jeffers Jr,
Dallas Morning News,
23 Feb. 2026
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In the latest directives, military separation boards have been ordered to find unfit and separate any transgender servicemember with a current or past documentation of gender dysphoria.—
Lauren Hodges,
NPR,
21 Feb. 2026
Adjective
-
Mix Materials The beauty in the unfitted kitchen aesthetic is found in its collected look.—
Patricia Shannon,
Better Homes & Gardens,
6 May 2025
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The venerable American clan at the center of the narrator’s reminiscences are wholly unfitted to the modern world and no longer endowed with the fortune that one of them brought home long ago on clipper ships.—
Daniel Akst,
WSJ,
2 Sep. 2022
Adjective
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But, at some point this season, the Dodgers will lose a handful of games in a row, or lose six out of seven, and might look incompetent doing it.—
Assistant Sports Editor,
Los Angeles Times,
18 Feb. 2026
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The issue was not that Butler was incompetent in his job; quite the opposite.—
Missy Ryan,
The Atlantic,
18 Feb. 2026
Adjective
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Bird seemed to be torn between Indiana and Indiana State, a small program that was playing in the hinterlands of Division I basketball, in danger of being banished to Division II, about to fire its head coach, and incapable of filling its new arena in Terre Haute.—
Keith O'Brien,
Rolling Stone,
22 Feb. 2026
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The detention center already expanded its RISE capacity restoration program to deal with defendants who are incapable of proceeding.—
Charlotte Observer,
Charlotte Observer,
20 Feb. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Unable.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/unable. Accessed 1 Mar. 2026.
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