ˌsəb-ˈäp-tə-məl
as in unacceptable
falling short of a standard
yes, living on junk food generally means that you have a suboptimal diet
Synonyms & Similar Words
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of suboptimal
The United States spends more per capita on health care, with suboptimal outcomes.
—
Christina Smith, Baltimore Sun, 9 June 2025
Troubleshooting outdated or suboptimal workplace management technology can divert the focus of IT and facilities teams away from strategic priorities like cybersecurity and IT asset management.
—Brian Haines, Forbes, 24 Mar. 2025
The reactive nature of revenge saving, while understandable, can lead to suboptimal financial choices if not guided by professional advice.
—Ron Shevlin, Forbes.com, 1 July 2025
The reason: Investor sentiment has been on edge following a few suboptimal reports on the state of the labor market.
—Zev Fima, CNBC, 6 June 2025
See All Example Sentences for suboptimal
Christina Smith, Baltimore Sun, 9 June 2025
Troubleshooting outdated or suboptimal workplace management technology can divert the focus of IT and facilities teams away from strategic priorities like cybersecurity and IT asset management.
—Brian Haines, Forbes, 24 Mar. 2025
The reactive nature of revenge saving, while understandable, can lead to suboptimal financial choices if not guided by professional advice.
—Ron Shevlin, Forbes.com, 1 July 2025
The reason: Investor sentiment has been on edge following a few suboptimal reports on the state of the labor market.
—Zev Fima, CNBC, 6 June 2025
See All Example Sentences for suboptimal
Recent Examples of Synonyms for suboptimal
Adjective
-
The use of unilateral sanctions against Special Rapporteurs or any other UN expert or official is unacceptable.—
Amira El-Fekki,
MSNBC Newsweek,
11 July 2025
-
Students, both the ones who behave and the ones who misbehave, need to know that there are real consequences for unacceptable behavior.—
Carrie Lukas,
Forbes.com,
9 July 2025
Adjective
-
Here are the inspection scores and violations for restaurants within the city limits of Arlington for June 29th - July 5th, 2025 A score of 100 is a perfect score and 70 is considered to be extremely poor.—
Fort Worth Star-Telegram,
Fort Worth Star-Telegram,
11 July 2025
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This last group is those with still poor (<50) RS Ratings, but strong (>80) 3-month RS Ratings. a.—
Randy Watts,
Forbes.com,
11 July 2025
Adjective
-
However, according to the Baseball Rules Academy, the umpires got the call wrong.—
Ryan Canfield,
FOXNews.com,
5 July 2025
-
One of the company’s big assumptions about the phone had turned out to be wrong.—
Verne Kopytoff,
Fortune,
5 July 2025
Adjective
-
As holidays go, however, Flag Day can feel a bit lame.—
Kevin Fisher-Paulson,
San Francisco Chronicle,
8 June 2021
-
My 11-year-old loved watching the pups roll balls and play a giant floor piano, but for non-dog owners (guilty as charged), parts of the series—like dressing dogs in little hats and outfits for a Parisian fashion show—feel lame.—
Tim Neville,
Outside Online,
23 Nov. 2020
Adjective
-
But there's also nothing worse than missing a connection that delays your trip by hours or even a full day.—
Brandee Gruener,
Southern Living,
10 July 2025
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Tom threw batting practice to Jackson, took Ethan down in the garage to vent and hit soft toss after a bad day at school.—
Cody Stavenhagen,
New York Times,
10 July 2025
Adjective
-
The report alleges a range of major violations plaguing St. Hope Public Schools — including conflicts of interests among its top officers, improper use of public funding, deficient accounting processes and the employment of a largely unqualified teaching staff.—
Jennah Pendleton,
Sacbee.com,
21 May 2025
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If a person is not deficient in iron, too much iron can cause significant problems.5 3.—
Heather Jones,
Verywell Health,
23 June 2025
Adjective
-
Maryland’s home detention/electronic monitoring system is flawed and needs fixing.—
Reader Commentary,
Baltimore Sun,
11 July 2025
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Jess and Felix, by contrast, are real, funny, messy, horny, flawed people.—
Judy Berman,
Time,
10 July 2025
Cite this Entry
“Suboptimal.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/suboptimal. Accessed 19 Jul. 2025.
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