1
as in spiritual
not composed of matter
as thin and unsubstantial as the wind
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in insubstantial
being of a material lacking in sturdiness or substance
unsubstantial wisps of lace
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
3
as in weak
lacking bodily strength
an unsubstantial child who was unfit to play sports of any kind
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of unsubstantial
The algorithm fed the Giants pitcher a savory yet unsubstantial diet of short-form content.
—
Justice Delos Santos, Mercury News, 31 Mar. 2025
Salads Salads don’t have to feel flimsy or unsubstantial.
—Katie Workman, San Diego Union-Tribune, 6 Sep. 2023
Still, Republicans plowed ahead with unsubstantial allegations of collusion between government officials and the company’s old regime.
—Cat Zakrzewski and Cristiano Lima, Anchorage Daily News, 9 Feb. 2023
From a personal finance perspective, people with extra cash should feel free to put an unsubstantial portion of their wealth into high-risk, high-volatility assets like crypto or meme stocks or even Super Bowl bets (thanks for the two-touchdown performance, Cooper Kupp).
—Scott Nover, Quartz, 14 Feb. 2022
See All Example Sentences for unsubstantial
Justice Delos Santos, Mercury News, 31 Mar. 2025
Salads Salads don’t have to feel flimsy or unsubstantial.
—Katie Workman, San Diego Union-Tribune, 6 Sep. 2023
Still, Republicans plowed ahead with unsubstantial allegations of collusion between government officials and the company’s old regime.
—Cat Zakrzewski and Cristiano Lima, Anchorage Daily News, 9 Feb. 2023
From a personal finance perspective, people with extra cash should feel free to put an unsubstantial portion of their wealth into high-risk, high-volatility assets like crypto or meme stocks or even Super Bowl bets (thanks for the two-touchdown performance, Cooper Kupp).
—Scott Nover, Quartz, 14 Feb. 2022
See All Example Sentences for unsubstantial
Recent Examples of Synonyms for unsubstantial
Adjective
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That’s why the casting of nonprofessionals is at the core of the modernist project of cinematic demystification, the stripping of theatrical artifice to arrive at an essence—whether social, spiritual, formal, or emotional.—
Richard Brody,
New Yorker,
25 Feb. 2026
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In the painting, darkness is broken by a figure in bright turquoise silk, which inspired the collection’s tension between traditional religious ideals and personal spiritual beliefs.—
Mary Wenthur,
Footwear News,
24 Feb. 2026
Adjective
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Scarlet’s good intentions to end wars by way of sheer determination to do what’s right might prove insubstantial in practice.—
Carlos Aguilar,
Los Angeles Times,
6 Feb. 2026
-
Oliver Rackham, the great historian of the British countryside, devoted a not insubstantial portion of his career to rebutting this claim, noting that there is no evidence whatsoever to suggest that these punishments were ever carried out.—
Rosa Lyster,
Harpers Magazine,
30 Dec. 2025
Adjective
-
Taking new measurements, the researchers saw that as fluid gushed between cells, creating indentations in their cell membranes, bubbles mostly bulged into weaker cells.—
Clare Watson,
Quanta Magazine,
27 Feb. 2026
-
Trump suggested in the aftermath of that raid that military action in Cuba might not be necessary because the island’s economy was weak enough — particularly in the absence of oil shipments from Venezuela that stopped after Maduro was taken into custody — to soon collapse on its own.—
Will Weissert,
Los Angeles Times,
27 Feb. 2026
Adjective
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Positioned as a large-scale genre event, the series updates the legendary SFX property with a contemporary political and social edge, with Shun Oguri leading the cast as a detective hunting a seemingly incorporeal killer.—
Patrick Brzeski,
HollywoodReporter,
27 Jan. 2026
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In fact, magical life has the potential to be even more radically incorporeal than our own.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
26 June 2025
Adjective
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The claims, however, appear to be flimsy at best in the eyes of Wall Street veterans.—
Jeff John Roberts,
Fortune,
26 Feb. 2026
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Also, the higher resolution makes the Sacred Heart sets, now transplanted to Vancouver, look especially flimsy.—
Alison Herman,
Variety,
18 Feb. 2026
Adjective
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When approached, such a goose might have made a feeble attempt to escape.—
Bryan Hendricks,
Arkansas Online,
15 Feb. 2026
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His inability to recognize the oxymoron makes Cole’s introspection on this topic feel less like a genuine reckoning and more like a feeble attempt at bleaching out the darkest stains of his career.—
Benny Sun,
Pitchfork,
10 Feb. 2026
Adjective
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The general thrust of the changes were to de-melodramatize Salieri’s action and to focus more attention on his guilt and metaphysical torment.—
Theater Critic,
Los Angeles Times,
18 Feb. 2026
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But, after Hume, liberals came increasingly to find even the barest invocation of metaphysical principles to be an embarrassment.—
Christopher Beha,
New Yorker,
14 Feb. 2026
Adjective
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The type of memory flashbacks that are shot at knee level, gauzy and out of focus, with a gossamer visual touch to conjure whispering, buried emotions of the past.—
Ryan Lattanzio,
IndieWire,
17 Feb. 2026
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Perverts By turns a budding chart sensation, a political firebrand, and an enthusiastic cataloguer of cryptids, Ethel Cain interrupts a stream of gossamer pop, folk, and rock records with Perverts, a droning rejection of the accessibility of her 2022 Billboard top-ten debut Preacher’s Daughter.—
Craig Jenkins,
Vulture,
2 Dec. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Unsubstantial.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/unsubstantial. Accessed 1 Mar. 2026.
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