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UNSUCCESSFUL
| Pronunciation (US): |  | (GB): | |
I. (adjective)
Sense 1
Meaning:
Failing to accomplish an intended result
Example:
a stillborn plot to assassinate the President
Synonyms:
abortive; stillborn; unsuccessful
Classified under:
Similar:
unfruitful (not fruitful; not conducive to abundant production)
Sense 2
Meaning:
Not successful; having failed or having an unfavorable outcome
Classified under:
Similar:
winless (having no wins)
unplaced (not one of the first three in a race or competition)
unfulfilled; unrealised; unrealized (of persons; marked by failure to realize full potentialities)
self-defeating (acting to defeat its own purpose)
goalless; hitless; pointless; scoreless (having no points scores)
out (out of power; especially having been unsuccessful in an election)
no-win (certain to end in failure and disappointment)
hitless ((of a batter) without a hit)
empty-handed; unrewarded (having acquired or gained nothing)
down-and-out (lacking resources (or any prospect of resources))
done for; ruined; sunk; undone; washed-up (doomed to extinction)
defeated; disappointed; discomfited; foiled; frustrated; thwarted (disappointingly unsuccessful)
attempted (tried unsuccessfully)
Also:
unprofitable (producing little or no profit or gain)
unfortunate (not favored by fortune; marked or accompanied by or resulting in ill fortune)
defeated (beaten or overcome; not victorious)
Attribute:
success (a state of prosperity or fame)
Antonym:
successful (having succeeded or being marked by a favorable outcome)
Context examples:
His parents were shiftless and unsuccessful farm people—his imagination had never really accepted them as his parents at all.
(The Great Gatsby, by F. Scott Fitzgerald)
