unsatisfactory
17
3.9
- adjective
- /ˌʌnˈsætɪsˌfæktəri/
:
insatisfactorio
- Your progress report I find is unsatisfactory.
- unsatisfactory results
- unsatisfactory situation
- unsatisfactory outcome
Meaning our kind of disappointing, superficial, unsatisfactory relationships with people.
- Meaning our kind of disappointing, superficial, unsatisfactory relationships with people.
- Back to the Shakespeare, so I don't know, like I said, probably a very unsatisfactory answer for Sam, but that's the truth.
- It's don't panic, it's going to be OK, but it's from a metrological point of view, it's completely unsatisfactory.
- And they realize that they are now living a life of just unsatisfactory life, right?
- The ego, of course, looks for liberation from its unsatisfying, unsatisfactory state.
- They're just trying to capitalize off of your fear, which it's pretty unsatisfactory in my book.
- I think so if you know the unsatisfactory thing.
- I think so if you had the unsatisfactory thing.
Examples
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Tenured teachers can be dismissed after two consecutive years of unsatisfactory reviews.
Academic text (2013) -
The teacher said my essay was unsatisfactory and needed more evidence to support my arguments.
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Now I have an unsatisfactory answer for you on that.
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This must all seem so unsatisfactory for you.
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Three options come to mind as potential solutions to this unsatisfactory result.
Academic text (2017) -
So our conclusion is that the origins of the second war lie in the unsatisfactory outcome of the first.
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The process of democratization is likely to be messy and unsatisfactory, but it is absolutely necessary.
Academic text (2008) -
Students who answered fewer than five items correctly were classified as having an unsatisfactory level of knowledge.
Academic text (1999) -
Students often question a professor's content knowledge quotient when the method of presentation is unsatisfactory to them.
Academic text (2008) -
Her medical history included cataract surgery on the same eye 5 years earlier, with unsatisfactory vision postoperatively.
Academic text (2008)
Synonyms
256
3.2
Not good enough or not allowed by rules
190
1.4
Not as good as you expected or hoped
118
4.4
Not enough or not good enough to do what is needed
86
3.6
Not enough in amount or quality to meet a need
12
4.4
Less impressive or exciting than you expect
12
3.7
Less good than you expected and leaving you disappointed
9
3.9
Not very good or likely to attract attention
4
5.6
Less good than the best choice
3
5.5
Something that does not make you feel satisfied or successful
Not as good as expected or needed
Not giving pleasure or reward
Antonyms
How Satisfactory
Surface Forms
Morphology
unsatisfactory = satisfactory (transparent) = un + satisfactory
Clear productive negation: 'un-' reverses the meaning of the adjective 'satisfactory' in a regular and predictable way.
Etymology
Unsatisfactory starts with un- ('not') and the rest comes from satisfy, which comes from the old root satis meaning 'enough'. So, unsatisfactory means 'not enough' or not giving the needed satisfaction.