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
But unfortunately, unable to keep his trademark goofiness in check, director Taika Waititi lessens its impact, with pioneer Jaiyah Saelua (Kaimana) — the first and still the only trans player to compete at such a level — in particular, done dirty.
—
Jon O'Brien,
Vulture,
26 June 2026
More than 11,000 seafarers have been stuck in the region, unable to leave out of fear of being attacked.
—
Miranda Jeyaretnam,
Time,
26 June 2026
The free lecture can be viewed online by those unable to attend in person.
—
Mike Danahey,
Chicago Tribune,
26 June 2026
For eight decades, mathematicians were unable to significantly improve on the solution that Erdős came up with.
—
Leila Sloman,
Quanta Magazine,
26 June 2026
See All Example Sentences for unable
Jon O'Brien,
Vulture,
26 June 2026
More than 11,000 seafarers have been stuck in the region, unable to leave out of fear of being attacked.
—
Miranda Jeyaretnam,
Time,
26 June 2026
The free lecture can be viewed online by those unable to attend in person.
—
Mike Danahey,
Chicago Tribune,
26 June 2026
For eight decades, mathematicians were unable to significantly improve on the solution that Erdős came up with.
—
Leila Sloman,
Quanta Magazine,
26 June 2026
See All Example Sentences for unable
Recent Examples of Synonyms for unable
Adjective
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There are worse strategies, but perhaps the unfit 18-year-old can’t do it all himself.
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The plan to buy large warehouses unfit for human habitation and spend millions more to convert them to prisons sparked nationwide backlash and pointed resistance in Social Circle and Oakwood.
Adjective
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Mix Materials The beauty in the unfitted kitchen aesthetic is found in its collected look.
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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.
Adjective
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Clinical psychologists concluded after exams in the six years since his arrest that McGuire was incompetent to stand trial.
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She was found incompetent to stand trial and was committed to the Missouri Department of Mental Health, according to a statement provided by Jackson County Prosecutor’s Office spokesperson Jazzlyn Johnson.
Adjective
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Their rivals were a candid, impudent pair, the schoolgirlish Shakira and a throaty American bottle-service girl named Toni, both incapable of conniving their way into romance, prone to heartbreak, and swiftly ostracized for their overt judgment of other islanders.
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Following in the footsteps of Eddie the Eagle and Cool Runnings, Next Goal Wins focuses on a real-life sporting underdog that even Hollywood recognizes is incapable of being turned into a champion team.
Cite this Entry
“Unable.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/unable. Accessed 30 Jun. 2026.
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