unsuitably
- adverb
- /ʌnˈsuːtəblɪ/
- She felt—and said—that I disgraced both my birth and my sex by behaving totally unsuitably on almost every occasion.
Examples
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He treated the serious matter unsuitably, making jokes that offended several attendees.
-
Knopper's Egyptian inning had already been unsuitably long.
Fiction book (1992) -
I don't wish to seem offensive, but it does seem to me that she's most unsuitably dressed for such a solemn occasion.
-
For hysteria is an unsuitably somatized emotion, revealed in this case by the suffocation that blocks her memory at the moment of danger.
Academic text (2003) -
She walked the little yapping dog, unsuitably named Beauty, for Janet, the discontented widow in 1A.
Fiction book (1998) -
I was unsuitably dressed for the formal event, wearing jeans and a t-shirt instead of a suit.
-
The committee found that her suggestions were unsuitably vague, lacking the necessary detail for implementation.
Synonyms
In a way that is wrong or not suitable for the situation
In a way that is not right for the situation
In a way that is not right for the situation
In a way that is not suitable for the situation
Antonyms
How Unsuitable
Surface Forms
Morphology
unsuitably = unsuitable (transparent) = un + suit + able + ly
The adverb 'unsuitably' is transparently derived from the adjective 'unsuitable' by adding the suffix '-ly'.
Etymology
Unsuitably breaks into un- 'not' and suit 'fit' or 'be right for', plus -ably which tells how something is done; think of shoes that do not fit or wearing a coat in hot sun. So unsuitably means doing something in a way that does not fit or is not right for the situation.