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unguardable

unguardable

1 8.2
A shot or play that defenders cannot stop in sports
  • adjective
  • /ʌnˈɡɑrdəbl/
translation icon : imposible de defender
  • With her unique skills, she has become an unguardable force in the game.

Examples

  • He is almost unguardable on the pick-and-roll and draws free throws at the rate of a star.

    Blog text (19)
  • Mayo went so far as to call this Dirk-less 'flow' offense, his word, unguardable: "Because we don't do something constant or something you can scout."

    Blog text (5)
  • Barnes' growth is scary; his spectrum of micro-quickness and macro-length is going to be practically unguardable.

    Blog text (30)
  • Whatever is going on in Yemen is going on—most likely—because of the long unguardable border (think "sanctuary") with KSA.

    Blog text (1)
  • His incredible speed makes him almost unguardable on the basketball court.

  • The striker's ability to change direction quickly makes him unguardable by defenders.

Synonyms

untouchable
vsunguardable
3 7.7

Too difficult for people to reach or get

refers to being very hard to stop or block rather than unreachable
undefendable
vsunguardable
1 7.4

Too weak to be protected from attack or criticism

is about being very hard to stop or block in sport rather than general attacks
unprotectable
vsunguardable
8.1

Cannot stay safe from harm or attack

is specifically very hard to stop or block in sporting situations
uncheckable
vsunguardable
8.5

Impossible to control or stop

is mainly about being hard to stop or block in sport rather than general control

Antonyms

Someone can keep it safe from harm or damage

How Guardable

secure
318 3.2
unguardable
1 8.2

Surface Forms

unguardable positive

Morphology

unguardable = guardable (transparent) = un + guard + able

Formed by prefixing productive 'un-' to 'guardable'; the negation of 'able to be guarded' is clear to learners who know 'guard' and '-able'.

Etymology

Unguardable is made of un- 'not', guard 'protect', and -able 'can be', so it means 'not able to be guarded'. A helpful image is a very fast shot or serve that no defender can stop, which is why in sports we call something unguardable.