unsatisfactory

Use Unsatisfactory in a sentence

adjective

not satisfactory; not satisfying or meeting one's demands; inadequate.

Origin:
1630–40; un-¹ + satisfactory

Related forms

un·sat·is·fac·to·ri·ly, adverb

un·sat·is·fac·to·ri·ness, noun

Synonyms
disappointing, insufficient.

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Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2013.
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World English Dictionary

unsatisfactory (ˌʌnsætɪsˈfæktərɪ, -trɪ)

—*adj*
	not adequate or suitable; unacceptable

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
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00:10

Unsatisfactory has a plethora of syllables.

So is dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane. Does it mean:

opposition to the withdrawal of state support or recognition from an established church, esp. the Anglican Church in 19th-century England.

a white, crystalline, water-insoluble solid, C14H9Cl5, usually derived from chloral by reaction with chlorobenzene in the presence of fuming sulfuric acid: used as an insecticide and as a scabicide and pediculicide: agricultural use prohibited in the U.S.

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Example sentences

We feel this response is insufficient and unsatisfactory.

To develop a definition that does not acknowledge this plain fact in some way

would in my mind be equally unsatisfactory.

Faculty who perform poorly should receive negative evaluations based directly

on their unsatisfactory professional performance.

Since my example is unsatisfactory, allow me to toss the ball into your court.

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ground maladjustment maldistribution mismatch misrepresent mockery

Matching Quote

"What side of American life is not touched by this antithesis? What explanation of American life is more central or more illuminating? In everything one finds this frank acceptance of twin values which are not expected to have anything in common: on the one hand, a quite unclouded, quite unhypothetical assumption of aesthetic theory ("high ideals"), on the other a simultaneous acceptance of catchpenny realities. Between university ethics and business ethics, between American culture and American humour, between Good Government and Tammany, between academic pedantry and pavement slang, there is no community, no genial middle ground. The very accent of the words "Highbrow" and "Lowbrow" implies an instinctive perception that this is a very unsatisfactory state of affairs. For both are used in a derogatory sense. The "Highbrow" is the superior person whose virtue is admitted but felt to be an inept unpalatable virtue; while the "Lowbrow" is a good fellow one readily takes to, but with a certain scorn for him and all his works."

-Van Wyck Brooks

unsatisfactory

un·sat·is·fac·to·ry