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unsuitable

UK/ʌnˈsuːtəbəl/US/ʌnˈsuːtəbəl/
adjectiveB2+Occasional — familiar, but not everyday · #10,832 of 15,258leans written

Unsuitable means not right for the purpose or occasion. Unsuitable footwear, unsuitable for children, deemed unsuitable.

It judges the fit rather than the thing — nothing is unsuitable in itself, which is why the word always implies a purpose. It is the standard word in film and television age ratings. Note suitable, and suit, from the Old French for following.

Definitions of unsuitable

  1. 1adjectiveunsuitableNot right for the purpose or occasion.B2+

    “High heels are unsuitable for a long walk in the hills.”

unsuitable is a quality of poor fit.

Where it comes from

From un- + suitable.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA

Practised in Word Building

Practise this word

unsuitable in the wild

  • Shrubland may be unsuitable for human habitation because of the danger of fire.

    Shrubland

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

  • suit
  • suitable