unreliable

adjective

un·​re·​li·​able ˌən-ri-ˈlī-ə-bəl 

: not reliable : undependable, untrustworthy

an unreliable friend

an unreliable source of funding

an unreliable car

unreliability

ˌən-ri-ˌlī-ə-ˈbi-lə-tē 

noun

the unreliability of the data

a person with a reputation for unreliability

unreliably

ˌən-ri-ˈlī-ə-blē 

adverb

a method that works unreliably

Examples of unreliable in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

The world is not going to wait for the U.S. to hash out its chaos, and other countries are already moving to reorient parts of their manufacturing and trade schemes to circumvent an unreliable United States. —New York Daily News Editorial Board, New York Daily News, 3 Aug. 2025

Issues such as unreliable Wi-Fi, slow booking processes or credit card processing failures drive guests to competitors. —Mark Holzberg, Forbes.com, 31 July 2025

Advertisement Read More: American Health Care Will Suffer Under Trump’s Tariffs America, the unreliable Nobody knows what Trump will do tomorrow. —Devashish Mitra, Time, 28 July 2025

Renovators have to contend with stairs, unreliable elevators, narrow doorways, level changes, high thresholds, small bathrooms, tight kitchens, narrow hallways. —Jessica Slice, The Atlantic, 28 July 2025

Word History

First Known Use

1810, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for unreliable

• leviable
• reliable
• classifiable
• justifiable
• modifiable
• notifiable
• satisfiable
• specifiable
• undeniable
• verifiable
• emulsifiable
• identifiable