1
as in incompetent
lacking qualities (as knowledge, skill, or ability) required to do a job
an unskillful editor can be worse than none at all
Synonyms & Similar Words
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in inexperienced
lacking or showing a lack of expert skill
some painfully unskillful playing by the band's guitarist
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of unskillful
It was intended to be a mockery of the way White people danced, though plantation owners often interpreted slaves' movements as unskillful attempts to be like them.
—
Scottie Andrew and Harmeet Kaur, CNN, 6 July 2020
One of the most fraught issues around suicide clusters is unskillful media coverage, which studies suggest can spur copycats.
—Kate Siber, Outside Online, 4 Sep. 2018
As is often the case, Louie was unlucky — and also unskillful.
—Frank Stewart, The Mercury News, 12 Mar. 2017
Scottie Andrew and Harmeet Kaur, CNN, 6 July 2020
One of the most fraught issues around suicide clusters is unskillful media coverage, which studies suggest can spur copycats.
—Kate Siber, Outside Online, 4 Sep. 2018
As is often the case, Louie was unlucky — and also unskillful.
—Frank Stewart, The Mercury News, 12 Mar. 2017
Recent Examples of Synonyms for unskillful
Adjective
-
An incompetent attorney general to fire.—
Jackie Calmes,
Mercury News,
18 Apr. 2026
-
The North Texas mother charged with the 2022 murder of her 6-year-old son will be sent to a state hospital after being found incompetent to stand trial late last month, according to a judge's ruling Tuesday.—
Briauna Brown,
CBS News,
14 Apr. 2026
Adjective
-
The Blackhawks understood that handing their defense to a group of young, inexperienced players would be a challenge after the trade deadline.—
Scott Powers,
New York Times,
15 Apr. 2026
-
As New York Magazine reported last month, shifts are also crushingly long, the vast majority of managers are young and inexperienced, and contracts often end abruptly without any prior warning.—
Victor Tangermann,
Futurism,
15 Apr. 2026
Adjective
-
The space agency’s Apollo-era moon suits are unfit for use.—
Claire Cameron,
Scientific American,
20 Apr. 2026
-
In August, Brady was found unfit to stand trial and ordered to treatment.—
Michelle Mullins,
Chicago Tribune,
20 Apr. 2026
Adjective
-
The intersection of Hollywood and Kodak While film sales to amateur photographers drove a lot of Kodak’s success, so did sales of motion picture film.—
Marcia Greenwood,
USA Today,
15 Apr. 2026
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Lorenz also signed an amateur tryout on Wednesday with Iowa and could debut as early as Wednesday night against Grand Rapids.—
Michael Russo,
New York Times,
15 Apr. 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
-
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
-
Women worked as domestics; men served as unskilled laborers, canal diggers and later as mill workers across the river.—
Paula Kane,
The Conversation,
13 Mar. 2026
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Meanwhile, the women faced with that pool of socially unskilled men have largely been overlooked.—
Faith Hill,
The Atlantic,
17 Jan. 2026
Adjective
-
Without political capital, leadership is irrelevant, because such a person is incapable of being a leader.—
Jim Nowlan,
Chicago Tribune,
19 Apr. 2026
-
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,
17 Apr. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Unskillful.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/unskillful. Accessed 21 Apr. 2026.
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