as in unacceptable
falling short of a standard
an unsatisfactory first attempt at building a birdhouse
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Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of unsatisfactory
While some users report strong performance on Trustpilot, others cite installation delays, outages or unsatisfactory support.
—
Roxanne Downer, USA Today, 30 Oct. 2025
Venture capital scored the lowest net sentiment, with 33% of respondents reporting unsatisfactory returns.
—Hayley Cuccinello, CNBC, 24 Oct. 2025
Russell Miller, a spokesperson for the labor union, referred Bay Area News Group to statements on its website that call Kaiser’s pay offer unsatisfactory because of historic, post-pandemic inflation that drove up living costs for workers.
—Grant Stringer, Mercury News, 14 Oct. 2025
Sainz and Williams initiating a right of review protest four days later revived my feeling that his penalty was an unsatisfactory outcome, regardless of the rules.
—Alex Kalinauckas, New York Times, 15 Sep. 2025
See All Example Sentences for unsatisfactory
Recent Examples of Synonyms for unsatisfactory
Adjective
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To make large profits from parking fees to make up for his terrible management of tax dollars and his expensive real estate errors should be unacceptable.—
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In just 24 hours, the president unveiled three massive state interventions into different markets that might’ve once looked—and sounded—like unacceptable levels of socialist dirigisme for a Republican to champion.—
Adjective
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Flooding may occur in poor drainage and urban areas.—
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In recent games, KU’s communication has been pretty poor on defense and that’s led to players taking (and too often missing) wide-open 3-pointers.—
Adjective
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As analysis, that’s not wrong, but where’s the sting of it inside this bizarre bonbon of a musical?—
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Despite his brilliance and intellect, he was prevented from having a full life by being born on the wrong side of Israel’s separation fence.—
Adjective
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His other go-to bogeyman, Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell, is now firmly in his lame-duck era as his term ends this spring.—
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Your ultra-lame social media posts (with awful production values) don’t cut it by a Colorado mile high.—
Adjective
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Iran is facing its worst drought in decades, raising fears of evacuations in Tehran while threatening the regime’s stability and nuclear ambitions, according to a leading environmental expert.—
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Keeping bad things out of my body.—
Adjective
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Do a Soil Test Plant experts recommend testing garden soil at least once every 3 years to make sure the soil hasn’t become nutrient-deficient or developed a pH imbalance that may interfere with plant growth.—
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Hamant, a California native in her senior year, was diagnosed with Stage 4 SMARCB1-deficient kidney cancer in April after suffering symptoms such as shortness of breath and a persistent cough, according to The Seattle Times.—
Cite this Entry
“Unsatisfactory.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/unsatisfactory. Accessed 12 Jan. 2026.
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