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Glite Dictionary
🚫 Cannot win election ⚖️ Not allowed to run
unelectable

unelectable

7.4
Not allowed to be chosen for office because of rules
  • adjective
  • /ˌʌnɪˈlɛktəbl/
  • Formal
translation icon : inelegible

Examples

  • Christie is unelectable because of his weight.

    Blog text (29)

  • Many consider the candidate to be unelectable due to his controversial views on important issues.

  • After the scandal, she became unelectable in her party's primaries.

  • The new regulations made several applicants unelectable for the upcoming election.

Synonyms

incompetent
vsunelectable
  • Formal
17 6.8

Not allowed by law to make important legal decisions or speak in court

is focused on general legal incapacity rather than disqualification for elections
ineligible
vsunelectable
4.2

A person not allowed to do or get something because of the rules

is limited to being barred from office by specific election rules

Antonyms

eligible
265 3.9

Able to be chosen or get something because you meet the rules

Surface Forms

unelectable positive

Morphology

unelectable = electable (transparent) = un + elect + able

Although this sense emphasizes legal or qualification-based inability, it is still formed by negating 'electable' (elect + -able), so the basic meaning is predictable.

Etymology

Unelectable breaks into un- 'not', elect 'choose' (as in election), and -able 'able'. In this sense it means 'not allowed or qualified to be chosen'. For example, a rule about age or a legal problem can make someone unelectable, which is why they cannot hold office.