unreliable

adjective

un·​re·​li·​able ˌən-ri-ˈlī-ə-bəl How to pronounce unreliable (audio)
: not reliable : undependable, untrustworthy
an unreliable friend
an unreliable source of funding
an unreliable car
unreliability noun
the unreliability of the data
a person with a reputation for unreliability
unreliably adverb
a method that works unreliably

Examples of unreliable in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
The surge is supplementing an unreliable grid beset by aging infrastructure and a fuel shortage. Troy Aidan Sambajon, The Christian Science Monitor, 15 Feb. 2025 Read: The real cost of knowledge The mess that this creates, in the form of unreliable research, can to some extent be cleaned up after publication. Adam Marcus, The Atlantic, 13 Feb. 2025 President Trump and Elon Musk's assault on government data is leaving businesses, academia and newsrooms like ours with missing or unreliable information about vital subjects. Erin Alberty, Axios, 11 Feb. 2025 The same bureaucratic mismanagement, corporate greed, and delusional left-wing energy policies that have turned California into a dystopian nightmare are creeping into red states, threatening to gut economic competitiveness and strangle American families with higher costs and unreliable power. Thomas G. Moukawsher, Newsweek, 5 Feb. 2025 See all Example Sentences for unreliable 

Word History

First Known Use

1810, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of unreliable was in 1810

Dictionary Entries Near unreliable

Cite this Entry

“Unreliable.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/unreliable. Accessed 21 Feb. 2025.

More from Merriam-Webster on unreliable

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!