unfit

English

Etymology

From un- + fit.

Pronunciation

  • (UK, US) IPA(key): /ʌnˈfɪt/
  • (file)
  • Rhymes: -ɪt

Adjective

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.
  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

Translations

Verb

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

References

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