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unfit

From Wiktionary, the free dictionary

English

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Etymology

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From un- +‎ fit.

Pronunciation

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Adjective

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unfit (comparative unfitter or more unfit, superlative unfittest or most unfit)

  1. Not fit; not having the correct requirements.
    Synonym: unsuitable
    Antonyms: fit, suitable
    Jack cannot run, making him unfit for the track team.
    • 1953 April, “Notes and News: Locomotive Notes: London Midland Region”, in Railway Magazine, page 284:
      The latter engine was found unfit to take its return working at 5.35 p.m. from Luton, and No. 45616, Malta G.C., was provided by Kentish Town as substitute.
    • 1993 October, Nancy D. Polikoff, “Lesbian And Gay Parenting: What's At Stake?”, in Gay Community News, page 3:
      On September 7, 1993, Sharon Bottoms lost custody of her two-year-old son to her own mother. A Virginia judge found that her sexual relationship with her lover was immoral and rendered her an unfit parent.
  2. Not fit, not having a good physical demeanor.
    Synonym: out of shape
    Antonyms: fit, in shape
    I've become so unfit after stopping cycling to town.
  3. (often with for) Unsuitable for a particular purpose.
    • 2022 November 2, Paul Bigland, “New trains, old trains, and splendid scenery”, in RAIL, number 969, page 56:
      Sadly, the station that proves to be the busiest - Blackpool Pleasure Beach - is unfit for purpose. It possesses a tiny canopy back from the platform that offers little in the way of shelter or amenities, other than a couple of benches.

Derived terms

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Translations

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Verb

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unfit (third-person singular simple present unfits, present participle unfitting, simple past and past participle unfitted)

  1. To make unfit; to render unsuitable, spoil, disqualify.
    • 1851 November 14, Herman Melville, Moby-Dick; or, The Whale, 1st American edition, New York, N.Y.: Harper & Brothers; London: Richard Bentley, →OCLC:
      He [...] added that he was fearful Christianity, or rather Christians, had unfitted him for ascending the pure and undefiled throne of thirty pagan Kings before him.
    • 1946, Bertrand Russell, History of Western Philosophy, I.30:
      These preoccupations unfitted the soldiers for the defence of the frontier, and permitted vigorous incursions of Germans form the north and Persians from the east.
    • 2018, Anna Rogers, With Them Through Hell, →ISBN, page 403:
      This life entirely unfits you for general practice.
    • 2020 April 8, Dr David Turner, “How railway staff were conduits and victims of a pandemic”, in Rail, page 31:
      The Select Committee on Transport (Metropolitan Area) of 1919 concluded the following: "Trains were crowded not merely to excess, but almost to danger point. The crush in the 'peak hours' not only overloaded public conveyances, but subjected travellers - particularly the old, the feeble and women - to an amount of suffering, the effects of which often unfitted them temporarily for their ordinary duties."

Derived terms

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References

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