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poorly designed

poorly designed

4 3.7
Made in a way that does not work well or is hard to use
  • adjective
translation icon : mal diseñado
  • The new smartphone model received complaints because it was poorly designed and difficult to use.
  • poorly designed and implemented
  • poorly designed financing system
  • often poorly designed

Examples

  • Their chips are crap; it's that simple, and no one wants a weak, poorly designed CPU.

    Blog text (16)
  • Unfortunately, many of these schools are poorly designed or inadequately staffed to provide the educational options that they profess to deliver.

    Academic text (2000)
  • I would say if it's that much out of control, it's that poorly designed, shut it down.

  • Again, at no point should the thing ever be poorly written or poorly designed.

    Blog text (31)
  • Tests are poorly designed, especially for students with lower cognitive levels.

    Academic text (2010)
  • First, if the survey is poorly designed, the study will suffer from poor internal validity.

    Academic text (1999)
  • Irrigation systems are often poorly designed, managed, and maintained.

    Academic text (2000)
  • Is it possible to overcome the effects of a poorly designed questionnaire?

    Blog text (30)
  • Uninspired, generic, and poorly designed games can be found in any regional market.

    Blog text (9)
  • Their solar-panel push, in particular, illustrates how poorly designed subsidies can stymie the development of renewable power.

    Academic text (2012)

Synonyms

bad
vspoorly designed
1.0

Not good in quality or below the usual standard

specifies weak planning, construction, or arrangement rather than general low quality
faulty
vspoorly designed
36 3.5

Not correct because it has mistakes, for example in an argument or plan

refers to weak planning or arrangement that causes these defects
shoddy
vspoorly designed
30 4.5

Not made well and likely to break or stop working

points to weak planning and construction rather than just low materials
substandard
vspoorly designed
27 4.4

Not as good as the usual or required quality

describes a failure in design quality rather than general low worth
ill-conceived
vspoorly designed
9 6.1

Poorly planned and likely to fail

highlights weak planning specifically in construction and arrangement
ill-considered
vspoorly designed
4 6.8

Not carefully planned or thought about before doing it

emphasizes lack of careful thought in how things are arranged

Antonyms

17 3.6

Built carefully so it is strong and lasts

How Usable

user-friendly
21 3.1
usable
64 2.3
poorly designed
4 3.7
borky design
  • Jargon
9.9

Surface Forms

poorly designed positive

Morphology

poorly + designed

The meaning is directly compositional: the adverb 'poorly' (not well) modifies 'designed' (planned/made), yielding 'not well planned or constructed.' This straightforward modifier + adjective pattern is cross-linguistically common and would be immediately understandable to a B1 learner who knows both constituent words.

Etymology

Poorly designed gives a clear image: something was poorly designed, so parts do not fit, it breaks, or it is hard to use. When a chair wobbles or an app confuses people, it means 'not well planned' or low quality, so we call it poorly designed.