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
The findings home in on a biological limit that even the world’s fittest athletes seem unable to break.
—
Jason Dinh, Scientific American, 20 Oct. 2025
Fox News Digital was unable to immediately locate an attorney representing Cox.
—Julia Bonavita, FOXNews.com, 20 Oct. 2025
During this time, customers may be unable to create or update Support Cases.
—Melanie Goodfellow, Deadline, 20 Oct. 2025
The driver of a 2017 Toyota Prius was unable to stop in time and hit the man first, according to the CHP.
—Darrell Smith, Sacbee.com, 20 Oct. 2025
See All Example Sentences for unable
Jason Dinh, Scientific American, 20 Oct. 2025
Fox News Digital was unable to immediately locate an attorney representing Cox.
—Julia Bonavita, FOXNews.com, 20 Oct. 2025
During this time, customers may be unable to create or update Support Cases.
—Melanie Goodfellow, Deadline, 20 Oct. 2025
The driver of a 2017 Toyota Prius was unable to stop in time and hit the man first, according to the CHP.
—Darrell Smith, Sacbee.com, 20 Oct. 2025
See All Example Sentences for unable
Recent Examples of Synonyms for unable
Adjective
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However, if temperatures fluctuate unpredictably, going below or above the average, all the low-var animals will be unfit and unable to pass on their genes.—
Shraddha Lall,
The Conversation,
16 Oct. 2025
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But rivals like former HHS Secretary Xavier Becerra and former California State Controller Betty Yee are already framing her as unfit for office.—
Jesus Mesa,
MSNBC Newsweek,
10 Oct. 2025
Adjective
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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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Devil in Disguise also presents the Chicago Police Department as incompetent in its mission to protect and serve.—
Roxana Hadadi,
Vulture,
16 Oct. 2025
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All of the charges were ultimately discharged after she was found incompetent for court proceedings by a doctor.—
David Clarey,
jsonline.com,
14 Oct. 2025
Adjective
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Movies like Eddington and The Mastermind also render their white male protagonists as ill-prepared and ineffectual numbskulls incapable of confronting their era’s racial and social politics.—
Robert Daniels,
Time,
10 Oct. 2025
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Domestic treble winners, WSL champions six years running, yet ineffably incapable of finding triumph in Europe.—
Megan Feringa,
New York Times,
7 Oct. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Unable.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/unable. Accessed 26 Oct. 2025.
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