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
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to
show current usage.
Read More
Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors.
Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of unable
Cut off by its lenders last fall and unable to find a buyer, Silver filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection last Dec. 30 with more than $100 million in debts.
—
David Lyons, Sun Sentinel, 17 May 2025
From the very start, the Celtics’ contributors other than Jaylen Brown — Kristaps Porzingis, Derrick White, Luke Kornet and Payton Pritchard — looked overwhelmed, overmatched and unable to convert on their opportunities.
—Fiifi Frimpong, New York Daily News, 17 May 2025
Those unable or unwilling will be provided severance.
—Nick Mordowanec
kate Nalepinski, MSNBC Newsweek, 16 May 2025
Such an atmosphere also places immense pressure on Iranian filmmakers who are unable to work outside the official system or beyond censorship.
—Nick Vivarelli, Variety, 5 May 2025
See All Example Sentences for unable
David Lyons, Sun Sentinel, 17 May 2025
From the very start, the Celtics’ contributors other than Jaylen Brown — Kristaps Porzingis, Derrick White, Luke Kornet and Payton Pritchard — looked overwhelmed, overmatched and unable to convert on their opportunities.
—Fiifi Frimpong, New York Daily News, 17 May 2025
Those unable or unwilling will be provided severance.
—Nick Mordowanec
kate Nalepinski, MSNBC Newsweek, 16 May 2025
Such an atmosphere also places immense pressure on Iranian filmmakers who are unable to work outside the official system or beyond censorship.
—Nick Vivarelli, Variety, 5 May 2025
See All Example Sentences for unable
Recent Examples of Synonyms for unable
Adjective
-
Declared mentally unfit to stand trial, he was committed to the Mendota Mental Health Institute.—
Jenna deJong,
MSNBC Newsweek,
5 May 2025
-
That figure comprises people found psychiatrically unfit for trial but are stuck on Rikers awaiting a bed in a state psychiatric facility.—
Graham Rayman,
New York Daily News,
5 May 2025
Adjective
-
Mix Materials The beauty in the unfitted kitchen aesthetic is found in its collected look.—
Patricia Shannon,
Better Homes & Gardens,
6 May 2025
-
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
-
The Trump administration has pulled the plug on a program that provides legal help to immigrants who are determined mentally incompetent, according to a lawsuit filed by immigration legal groups.—
Suzanne Gamboa,
NBC news,
6 May 2025
-
City Council, do the right thing for once and put it on the ballot to overturn the requirement of requiring our incompetent city management to do this.—
U T Readers,
San Diego Union-Tribune,
26 Apr. 2025
Adjective
-
This definition also includes instance in which the victim is incapable of giving consent because of temporary or permanent mental or physical incapacity (include due to the influence of drugs or alcohol) or because of age.—
Baltimore Sun staff,
Baltimore Sun,
1 May 2025
-
Hampered by this erroneous guidance, health authorities and the American public began to believe that women were physically incapable of producing enough breastmilk.—
Made by History,
Time,
29 Apr. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Unable.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/unable. Accessed 21 May. 2025.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
Share