1
as in inexperienced
lacking or showing a lack of expert skill
an unskilled handling of the facial features in the portrait explains why it is attributed to "school of Velázquez" and not to the master himself
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in incompetent
lacking qualities (as knowledge, skill, or ability) required to do a job
hired unskilled workers because they would work for lower wages
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Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of unskilled
Meanwhile, the women faced with that pool of socially unskilled men have largely been overlooked.
—
Faith Hill, The Atlantic, 17 Jan. 2026
Complex negotiations in large organizations often fail—not because the negotiators are inexperienced or unskilled but because they’re constrained by two structural challenges, agency and alignment, and by the ways organizations manage those challenges.
—Danny Ertel, Harvard Business Review, 8 Dec. 2025
In contrast to many European countries, for instance, whose modern histories of immigration go back to the mid-twentieth century, Japan has not accepted generations of unskilled workers from poor, developing countries or adopted formal guest-worker programs.
—Gracia Liu-Farrer, Foreign Affairs, 18 Nov. 2025
No army in history seemed ever to have been more ragged and motley and mongrel and polyglot than the Continental, rich and poor, learned and illiterate, from boys to old men, skilled and unskilled, born all over the world, speaking dozens of languages, believing in different gods and in no god.
—Jill Lepore, New Yorker, 10 Nov. 2025
See All Example Sentences for unskilled
Faith Hill, The Atlantic, 17 Jan. 2026
Complex negotiations in large organizations often fail—not because the negotiators are inexperienced or unskilled but because they’re constrained by two structural challenges, agency and alignment, and by the ways organizations manage those challenges.
—Danny Ertel, Harvard Business Review, 8 Dec. 2025
In contrast to many European countries, for instance, whose modern histories of immigration go back to the mid-twentieth century, Japan has not accepted generations of unskilled workers from poor, developing countries or adopted formal guest-worker programs.
—Gracia Liu-Farrer, Foreign Affairs, 18 Nov. 2025
No army in history seemed ever to have been more ragged and motley and mongrel and polyglot than the Continental, rich and poor, learned and illiterate, from boys to old men, skilled and unskilled, born all over the world, speaking dozens of languages, believing in different gods and in no god.
—Jill Lepore, New Yorker, 10 Nov. 2025
See All Example Sentences for unskilled
Recent Examples of Synonyms for unskilled
Adjective
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The team overachieved this season partly because Mazzulla turned an inexperienced supporting cast into a strength.—
Jay King,
New York Times,
28 May 2026
-
Short selling can be an intellectually demanding approach to the market, and many inexperienced traders fall into a trap, lured by overvaluation and hype.—
David Capablanca,
Forbes.com,
28 May 2026
Adjective
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Last month, Rodriguez-Singh was found incompetent to stand trial on a capital murder charge in her son’s death, and she will be sent to a state mental health facility until her competency is restored.—
Fort Worth Star-Telegram,
Fort Worth Star-Telegram,
24 May 2026
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She is set to appear June 2 in the same courtroom where a judge recently found that a man accused of stalking Jennifer Aniston was incompetent to stand trial.—
CBS News,
CBS News,
20 May 2026
Adjective
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The comedic farce by Peter Quilter is based on Jenkins, an American socialite and amateur coloratura soprano who during the early 20th century was known for being flamboyant in attire and having a notably poor singing voice.—
Elizabeth Marie Himchak,
San Diego Union-Tribune,
26 May 2026
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One example includes looking at amateur war bloggers—sometimes soldiers themselves—in contrast to war journalists.—
Jeremy Saks,
Encyclopedia Britannica,
26 May 2026
Adjective
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Kabuga, somewhere in his 90s — his age is disputed — and suffering from severe dementia, had been forced to remain in the United Nations detention facility in The Hague after he was found unfit to stand trial in 2023 as no country was willing to take him in, prolonging the case against him.—
ABC News,
ABC News,
20 May 2026
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Paxton, meanwhile, has sought to cast Cornyn as a creature of the Washington establishment, while Cornyn has attacked Paxton as unfit for office, pointing to his years of legal and political controversy, including his 2023 impeachment by the Texas House.—
Luke Fountain,
CNBC,
19 May 2026
Adjective
-
Mix Materials The beauty in the unfitted kitchen aesthetic is found in its collected look.—
Patricia Shannon,
Better Homes & Gardens,
6 May 2025
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The venerable American clan at the center of the narrator’s reminiscences are wholly unfitted to the modern world and no longer endowed with the fortune that one of them brought home long ago on clipper ships.—
Daniel Akst,
WSJ,
2 Sep. 2022
Adjective
-
This often surprises people because, biologically speaking, humans aren’t entirely incapable of detecting UV light.—
Scott Travers,
Forbes.com,
23 May 2026
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More than half the field was involved in crashes during the first two segments, eliminating Chase Elliott and Ross Chastain and leaving Ryan Blaney and Kyle Larson with damaged cars incapable of contending.—
ABC News,
ABC News,
18 May 2026
Cite this Entry
“Unskilled.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/unskilled. Accessed 31 May. 2026.
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