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unwatchable

unwatchable

4 4.6
Too boring or badly made for people to keep watching
  • adjective
  • /ʌnˈwɑːtʃəbl/
translation icon : inmirable
  • I'm not sure why we watched them, since most of the movies we watched (certainly Ally Farson) were unwatchable.
  • unwatchable movie
  • nearly unwatchable
  • almost unwatchable

And it's like, you know, especially Colbert, so unwatchable now.

Examples

  • The other hosts, IMO, are irritating and make otherwise great content unwatchable.

    Blog text (34)
  • I watched two minutes of the movie and thought it was extremely silly and absolutely unwatchable.

    Blog text (21)
  • My last movie, like my first, is unwatchable.

    Fiction book (1999)
  • Sorry, but I watched two episodes and this show is unwatchable.

    Blog text (28)
  • But outside the argument of who came first, I'm afraid I found this show unwatchable.

    Blog text (16)
  • Arguably a candidate for worst film of the year, 'The Watch' is nearly unwatchable.

    Blog text (27)
  • The X Factor UK is shockingly boring and unwatchable.

    Blog text (7)
  • For 79 minutes on Wednesday, the U.S. was borderline unwatchable.

    Blog text (11)
  • Not as dreary and nearly unwatchable as the next episode, but pretty boring and nondescript.

    Blog text (23)
  • The movie was so poorly made that it was unwatchable after the first ten minutes.

Synonyms

intolerable
vsunwatchable
42 4.9

So unpleasant or painful that you cannot bear it

is specific to viewing, meaning it is not worth spending time on
uninteresting
vsunwatchable
20 1.4

Not exciting and likely to make people bored

is stronger, making viewing seem a waste of time
uninspiring
vsunwatchable
7 3.5

Not interesting or exciting

is more severe, suggesting viewers choose not to spend time on it
unexciting
vsunwatchable
3 3.2

Not interesting or exciting

is more negative, implying avoidance rather than simple dullness
unpleasing
vsunwatchable
1 4.8

Unpleasant to the senses, like a bitter taste or bright light

focuses on being so bad or dull that people avoid watching it
unviewable
vsunwatchable
7.1

Too unpleasant or badly made for people to watch

is bad or boring enough that watching it is not worth the time
unentertaining
vsunwatchable
4.5

Not interesting to watch, read or listen to

is worse by making watching feel pointless rather than merely dull
as exciting as watching paint dry
vsunwatchable
  • Informal
8.6

Very boring and hard to pay attention to

is similarly boring but adds a sense it is not worth watching
boresome
vsunwatchable
  • Archaic
6.8

Causes people to lose interest because it is dull

is more extreme, making people decide not to watch at all

Antonyms

202 1.7

Makes watching or listening enjoyable

worth the watch
  • Informal
3.2

Good enough that you should see it

How Watchable

compelling
298 5.1
entertaining
202 1.7
watchable
5 3.4
dull
182 1.3
unwatchable
4 4.6

Surface Forms

unwatchable positive
unwatchable comparative
unwatchable superlative

Morphology

unwatchable = watchable (transparent) = un + watch + able

Negative prefix 'un-' applied to 'watchable' yields the straightforward meaning 'not worth/able to be watched'.

Etymology

Unwatchable comes from un- 'not' plus watch 'to look'. A helpful way to remember it is that it describes something so bad or boring that it is 'not worth watching'.