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unequal

UK/ʌnˈiːkwəl/US/ʌnˈiːkwəl/
adjectiveB2+Rare in speech; mostly a word you read · #12,957 of 15,258leans written

Unequal means not the same in size, rank or fairness. Unequal treatment, an unequal struggle, unequal to the task.

Unequal to something is a separate use meaning not able to manage it, and it is a polite way of saying somebody could not cope. An unequal struggle is one where the sides were never matched.

Definitions of unequal

  1. 1adjectiveunequalNot the same in size, rank or fairness.B2+

    “The two teams were unequal in size, so we moved two players across.”

unequal is a quality.

Where it comes from

Un-, not, plus equal, from Latin aequalis, from aequus, level.

  1. Middle English

    unequale

  2. English, today

    unequal

From Middle English unequale, equivalent to un- + equal. Compare German unegal (“unlevel, uneven”).

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA

Practise this word

unequal in the wild

  • Irregular temperaments cannot be described with such a generation process, and include the historically used well temperaments, which use an unequal sequence of twelve tempered fifths.

    Musical temperament

  • The Treaty of the Bogue was an unequal treaty between the United Kingdom and China, concluded in October 1843 to supplement the previous Treaty of Nanking.

    Treaty of the Bogue

  • The Chinese government has described the Chefoo Convention as an "unequal treaty".

    Chefoo Convention

  • The Treaty of Canton was the first unequal treaty between Sweden-Norway and the Chinese Empire.

    Treaty of Canton

From Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0. These sentences were written by other people about their own subjects; they are here to show the word at work, not as anybody’s opinion.

Related words

  • equal