as in unacceptable
falling short of a standard an unsatisfactory first attempt at building a birdhouse

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Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of unsatisfactory Almost two months after the wedding, the signs were suddenly unsatisfactory. Ashlyn Robinette, People.com, 24 Feb. 2025 During this year, an agency can fire a probationary employee for unsatisfactory performance by putting in writing the reason for firing. Eleanor Nash, Kansas City Star, 19 Feb. 2025 Or is there evidence of poor capital allocation decisions that have produced unsatisfactory results for investors? Kevin Stankiewicz, CNBC, 18 Feb. 2025 Several proposals were put forward, most of which were unsatisfactory one way or another. Phil Plait, Scientific American, 30 Jan. 2025 See All Example Sentences for unsatisfactory
Recent Examples of Synonyms for unsatisfactory
Adjective
  • The alternative — courts that fail to protect our fundamental rights — is unacceptable.
    Peter Martin, New York Daily News, 28 Feb. 2025
  • Environmental groups have long opposed the new reservoir and objected to a shorter judicial review, saying the project will release unacceptable amounts of methane, a greenhouse gas, into the air in addition to other adverse impacts.
    Ari Plachta, Sacramento Bee, 28 Feb. 2025
Adjective
  • And another research team, using data from 2015 to 2022, observed in an article available in Energy Research and Social Science that poor income distribution correlates with social unrest when fossil fuel subsidies are removed.
    Aldo Flores-Quiroga, Forbes, 1 Mar. 2025
  • And poor work conditions can hurt morale in any field.
    Jeff Weiner, Axios, 28 Feb. 2025
Adjective
  • Notoriously indifferent to anyone on the wrong side of the 25-54 demo, advertisers eat this stuff up with a spork.
    Anthony Crupi, Sportico.com, 7 Mar. 2025
  • Agency leaders must also be mindful of compliance—misleading ads not only attract the wrong people but also risk legal trouble.
    Arnold Sotelo, Forbes, 7 Mar. 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
  • The state of our budget and our debt is bad for the country and bad for working families.
    Charlotte Alter, TIME, 28 Feb. 2025
  • And if that wasn’t bad enough, in extremely rare circumstances, neurologic fallout from measles is delayed, showing up 7 to 10 years post-infection as subacute sclerosing panencephalitis, a degenerative disease that is ultimately fatal, Dr. Lovins says.
    Erica Sloan, SELF, 28 Feb. 2025
Adjective
  • Kraken was also accused of having deficient internal controls and record keeping.
    Jonathan Stempel, USA TODAY, 3 Mar. 2025
  • Those studies show that supplementing with vitamin A in people who are deficient can lead to milder infections with diseases like measles.
    Alice Park, TIME, 3 Mar. 2025

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Cite this Entry

“Unsatisfactory.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/unsatisfactory. Accessed 14 Mar. 2025.

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