as in unacceptable
falling short of a standard
an unsatisfactory first attempt at building a birdhouse
Synonyms & Similar Words
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of unsatisfactory
While some users report strong performance on Trustpilot, others cite installation delays, outages or unsatisfactory support.
—
Roxanne Downer, USA Today, 30 Oct. 2025
Venture capital scored the lowest net sentiment, with 33% of respondents reporting unsatisfactory returns.
—Hayley Cuccinello, CNBC, 24 Oct. 2025
Russell Miller, a spokesperson for the labor union, referred Bay Area News Group to statements on its website that call Kaiser’s pay offer unsatisfactory because of historic, post-pandemic inflation that drove up living costs for workers.
—Grant Stringer, Mercury News, 14 Oct. 2025
Sainz and Williams initiating a right of review protest four days later revived my feeling that his penalty was an unsatisfactory outcome, regardless of the rules.
—Alex Kalinauckas, New York Times, 15 Sep. 2025
See All Example Sentences for unsatisfactory
Roxanne Downer, USA Today, 30 Oct. 2025
Venture capital scored the lowest net sentiment, with 33% of respondents reporting unsatisfactory returns.
—Hayley Cuccinello, CNBC, 24 Oct. 2025
Russell Miller, a spokesperson for the labor union, referred Bay Area News Group to statements on its website that call Kaiser’s pay offer unsatisfactory because of historic, post-pandemic inflation that drove up living costs for workers.
—Grant Stringer, Mercury News, 14 Oct. 2025
Sainz and Williams initiating a right of review protest four days later revived my feeling that his penalty was an unsatisfactory outcome, regardless of the rules.
—Alex Kalinauckas, New York Times, 15 Sep. 2025
See All Example Sentences for unsatisfactory
Recent Examples of Synonyms for unsatisfactory
Adjective
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To make large profits from parking fees to make up for his terrible management of tax dollars and his expensive real estate errors should be unacceptable.—
U T Readers,
San Diego Union-Tribune,
11 Jan. 2026
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In just 24 hours, the president unveiled three massive state interventions into different markets that might’ve once looked—and sounded—like unacceptable levels of socialist dirigisme for a Republican to champion.—
Eva Roytburg,
Fortune,
8 Jan. 2026
Adjective
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Flooding may occur in poor drainage and urban areas.—
NC Weather Bot,
Charlotte Observer,
10 Jan. 2026
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In recent games, KU’s communication has been pretty poor on defense and that’s led to players taking (and too often missing) wide-open 3-pointers.—
Shreyas Laddha,
Kansas City Star,
10 Jan. 2026
Adjective
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The candidacy challenge contends that Wilcox used the wrong form to file for office in December and left off information that was required.—
Eleanor Dearman,
Fort Worth Star-Telegram,
13 Jan. 2026
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An Amazon driver accompanied by her 16-year-old son came under fire after accidentally stopping at the wrong house in rural North Carolina, according to investigators.—
Mark Price,
Charlotte Observer,
13 Jan. 2026
Adjective
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His other go-to bogeyman, Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell, is now firmly in his lame-duck era as his term ends this spring.—
Allison Morrow,
CNN Money,
11 Jan. 2026
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Your ultra-lame social media posts (with awful production values) don’t cut it by a Colorado mile high.—
DP Opinion,
Denver Post,
7 Jan. 2026
Adjective
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Now, but as the statistics and figures come in here in Minneapolis, there's double-digit drops in crime, coupled with a lot of bad people and bad things being taken off of your streets.—
Esme Murphy,
CBS News,
13 Jan. 2026
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Under President Biden, the FTC and DOJ slowed large transactions, suggesting that all big businesses were bad businesses.—
Jeffrey Sonnenfeld,
Time,
13 Jan. 2026
Adjective
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Miami played well early, taking a 59-54 lead into the break before being undone by turnovers and deficient board work, a torrent of OKC threes and the greatness of defending MVP Shae Gilgeous-Alexander, who fueled a 15-0 third quarter run to put the Thunder ahead by 13.—
Barry Jackson,
Miami Herald,
12 Jan. 2026
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The longstanding bridge, which was deemed structurally deficient, connects downtown to the East Side.—
Frederick Melo,
Twin Cities,
9 Jan. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Unsatisfactory.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/unsatisfactory. Accessed 14 Jan. 2026.
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