Unsuitable

Part of speech: adjective

Pronunciation: /ʌnˈsuːtəbəl/

Definitions

1. Not appropriate or fitting for a particular purpose, person, or situation
2. Not suitable or proper for a specific context, individual, or circumstance
3. Lacking the necessary qualities or characteristics required for a designated use, person, or event

Etymology: "Unsuitable" is a plain compound: the prefix "un-", meaning "not", attached to "suitable". The prefix goes back to Old English, where it was one of the most productive ways to make a negative, and it has been used this way throughout the language's history. The word it modifies, "suitable," is built from "suit" and the ending "-able." "Suit" traces back through Old French "siute" and Anglo-Norman "suite" to a Vulgar Latin verb "sequere," meaning "to follow." The original sense was therefore about following or conforming to something, and a "suit" was a sequence or set of things that go together. From that idea of fitting in with what came before, "suit" came to mean "to be right for," and "suitable" grew out of it. The ending "-able" entered English through Old French from Latin "-abilis," which marks something that can be or ought to be done. Put together, "unsuitable" describes something that does not follow, match, or fit what the situation calls for, a meaning that stays very close to the verb's original idea of following on from something.

Synonyms: inappropriate, unfit, improper, unacceptable, ill-suited

Antonyms: suitable, appropriate, fit, acceptable, proper