unsatisfactory

UK/ˌʌnsætɪsˈfækt(ə)ɹi/US/ˌʌnsætɪsˈfækt(ə)ɹi/

adjectiveB2+Occasional — familiar, but not everyday · #11,647 of 15,258leans written

Unsatisfactory means not good enough for what was required. An unsatisfactory answer, deemed unsatisfactory, an unsatisfactory outcome.

It is the formal register of failure and is used precisely because it is milder than the truth. In inspection reports it was for years a named grade meaning the institution had failed.

Definitions of unsatisfactory

1adjectiveunsatisfactoryNot good enough for what was required.B2+
“The teacher called his homework unsatisfactory and asked him to do it again.”

unsatisfactory is a quality.

Where it comes from

Latin
satisfactōrius
Middle French
satisfactoire
English
satisfactory
English, today
unsatisfactory

From un- + satisfactory. satisfactory Borrowed from Middle French satisfactoire, from Latin satisfactōrius, from Latin satisfactus, past participle of satisfaciō.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA

Practise this word

unsatisfactory in the wild

Reform refers to the improvement or amendment of what is wrong, corrupt, unsatisfactory, etc.
Reform
The sole prototype exhibited unsatisfactory characteristics with its lack of pilot visibility directly leading to its cancellation.
Boeing XP-9
Generally, a motor carrier rated unsatisfactory is prohibited from operating a CMV.
Motor carrier safety rating
Service trials found the aircraft to be unsatisfactory, and it was superseded by the same company's Nimrod design.
Hawker Hoopoe
As of autumn 2014, the condition of the Lviv Oblast section of P39 is unsatisfactory.
P39 road (Ukraine)

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

the satisfactoire family

satisfactory

unsatisfactory — used about once every 9,395 pages · #11,647 · point at the bar for the others

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