Library / English Dictionary

UNFIT

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

Irregular inflected forms: unfitted    , unfitting   

 I. (adjective) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

Not in good physical or mental condition; out of condition

Example:

drunk and unfit for service

Classified under:

Adjectives

Similar:

maimed; mutilated (having a part of the body crippled or disabled)

dipped; lordotic; swayback; swaybacked (having abnormal sagging of the spine (especially in horses))

spavined ((of horses) afflicted with a swelling of the hock-joint)

flabby; flaccid; soft (out of condition; not strong or robust; incapable of exertion or endurance)

knock-kneed (having the knees abnormally close together and the ankles wide apart)

gammy ((British informal) sore or lame)

disabled; handicapped (having restricted mental or physical functioning as a consequence of injury or illness)

crookback; crookbacked; gibbous; humpbacked; humped; hunchbacked; kyphotic (characteristic of or suffering from kyphosis, an abnormality of the vertebral column)

crippled; game; gimpy; halt; halting; lame (disabled in the feet or legs)

broken-backed ((of a horse) having bones of the back united by a bony growth)

bandy; bandy-legged; bowed; bowleg; bowlegged (have legs that curve outward at the knees)

apractic; apraxic (having uncoordinated muscular movements, symptomatic of a CNS disorder)

afflicted; impaired (mentally or physically unfit)

Also:

unhealthy (not in or exhibiting good health in body or mind)

unsound (not sound financially)

ill; sick (affected by an impairment of normal physical or mental function)

Antonym:

fit (physically and mentally sound or healthy)

Derivation:

unfitness (lacking the power to perform)

unfitness (poor physical condition; being out of shape or out of condition (as from a life of ease and luxury))

Sense 2

Meaning:

Below the required standards for a purpose

Example:

unfit for human consumption

Classified under:

Adjectives

Similar:

subhuman (unfit for human beings)

unsuitable (not meant or adapted for a particular purpose)

Antonym:

fit (meeting adequate standards for a purpose)

Derivation:

unfitness (the quality of not being suitable)

Sense 3

Meaning:

Physically unsound or diseased

Example:

unsound teeth

Synonyms:

bad; unfit; unsound

Classified under:

Adjectives

Similar:

unhealthy (not in or exhibiting good health in body or mind)

Derivation:

unfitness (poor physical condition; being out of shape or out of condition (as from a life of ease and luxury))

 II. (verb) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

Make unfit or unsuitable

Example:

Your income disqualifies you

Synonyms:

disqualify; indispose; unfit

Classified under:

Verbs of size, temperature change, intensifying, etc.

Hypernyms (to "unfit" is one way to...):

alter; change; modify (cause to change; make different; cause a transformation)

Sentence frames:

Something ----s somebody
Something ----s something

Credits

 Context examples: 

Yes; and the sense of being unfit for it, or of not having understood it, or of having shown his condition in spite of himself, seems to make him so uneasy, that next day he is worse, and next day worse, and so he becomes jaded and haggard.

(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)

She looked at her however, from time to time, anxiously; and when the moment approached which must point him out, though not daring to look again (for her own countenance she knew was unfit to be seen), she was yet perfectly conscious of Lady Russell's eyes being turned exactly in the direction for him—of her being, in short, intently observing him.

(Persuasion, by Jane Austen)

They were the unfit.

(Martin Eden, by Jack London)

From this moment her mind was never quiet; the expectation of seeing him every hour of the day, made her unfit for any thing.

(Sense and Sensibility, by Jane Austen)

You have both warm hearts and benevolent feelings; and, Fanny, who that heard him read, and saw you listen to Shakespeare the other night, will think you unfitted as companions?

(Mansfield Park, by Jane Austen)

I loved my brothers, Elizabeth, and Clerval; these were “old familiar faces,” but I believed myself totally unfitted for the company of strangers.

(Frankenstein, by Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley)

Yes, I made the best of it; I always do: but I was very far from well at the time; and I do not think I ever was so ill in my life as I have been all this morning: very unfit to be left alone, I am sure.

(Persuasion, by Jane Austen)

He had not much intercourse with any families beyond that circle; his horror of late hours, and large dinner-parties, made him unfit for any acquaintance but such as would visit him on his own terms.

(Emma, by Jane Austen)

And yet they, of all creatures under the sun the most unfit, are the very creatures who decide what shall and what shall not find its way into print—they, who have proved themselves not original, who have demonstrated that they lack the divine fire, sit in judgment upon originality and genius.

(Martin Eden, by Jack London)

After wandering along the lane for two hours, giving way to every variety of thought—re-considering events, determining probabilities, and reconciling herself, as well as she could, to a change so sudden and so important, fatigue, and a recollection of her long absence, made her at length return home; and she entered the house with the wish of appearing cheerful as usual, and the resolution of repressing such reflections as must make her unfit for conversation.

(Pride and Prejudice, by Jane Austen)