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Glite Dictionary
📦 Cannot be sent 🎤 Cannot be performed
undeliverable

undeliverable

6.5
Hard to say or perform because it does not sound natural
  • adjective
  • /ˌʌndɪˈlɪvərəbəl/
translation icon : imposible de expresar
  • The director realized that some lines in the script were undeliverable due to their complexity.

Examples

  • The comedian's joke fell flat and was deemed undeliverable by the audience.

  • Her speech was so poorly written that the main message became undeliverable.

  • It is not known if the undeliverable surveys represent a different population.

    Academic text (1996)

Synonyms

abortive
vsundeliverable
5 7.7

It does not produce the result people want

applies specifically to things that cannot be performed or expressed on stage or orally
unactable
vsundeliverable
  • Jargon
8.6

A part or script people on stage cannot perform well

is judged impossible to present successfully as a spoken line or joke
undelivered
vsundeliverable
4.6

Not producing the intended effect or feeling

focuses on inability to present a line or speech so it lands with listeners

Antonyms

successful
∞ 1.6

You have achieved what you wanted

How Deliverable

memorable
181 3.5
effective
986 3.1
passable
8 4.4
undeliverable
6.5
incoherent
22 7.2

Surface Forms

undeliverable positive

Morphology

undeliverable = deliverable (semi-transparent) = un + deliver + able

Composition is regular (un- + deliverable) but the sense involves a metaphorical/performative extension ('deliver' = perform a joke), which may not be immediately obvious to all learners.

Etymology

Undeliverable comes from un- meaning 'not' and deliver which also means 'to say or perform', as in 'deliver a speech'. So, an undeliverable line or joke is 'not able to be said or performed successfully'.