How to Use undesirable in a Sentence

undesirable

1 of 2 adjective
  • The drug has some undesirable side effects.
  • Frankly, it's an undesirable and unpleasant job.
  • This may have undesirable consequences.
  • But, if our élites are undesirable, what would a better élite look like?
    — Evan Osnos, The New Yorker, 22 Jan. 2024
  • And that’s where a lots of his street savvy comes from; his comfort with folks who might be deemed undesirable.
    — Nick Vivarelli, Variety, 22 Sep. 2025
  • Also, remove undesirable weeds and loosen the top inch or so of soil.
    — Hallie Milstein, Southern Living, 13 May 2026
  • Also, remove undesirable weeds and loosen the top inch or so of soil.
    — Hallie Milstein, Southern Living, 11 Aug. 2025
  • Brailovsky, held as an undesirable alien, was soon released; the crime was never solved.
    — John Leland, New York Times, 24 Mar. 2023
  • And chopped is a word that kids use to describe something as ugly or undesirable.
    — Jordan Greene, PEOPLE, 15 Jan. 2026
  • In ancient times, females were so undesirable that many were left as babies to die.
    — Matt Fleming, Oc Register, 25 Dec. 2025
  • All of these routes risk undesirable tax consequences or, perhaps worse, ire from heirs.
    — Hayley Cuccinello, CNBC, 2 Apr. 2026
  • But this always left the undesirable areas to the new arrivals.
    — Jack Hargreaves, The Dial, 9 Sep. 2025
  • So, what are some of these unusual or undesirable talking events?
    — Haley Goldberg, SELF, 29 Dec. 2021
  • If the mixture is heated for too long, liquids such as methanol and undesirable oils start to collect.
    — Tucker Harris, Washington Post, 23 Jan. 2024
  • Men have risen the corporate ladder with the help of charm—or smarm—and avoidance of undesirable tasks for decades.
    — Kinsey Crowley, Fortune, 31 Jan. 2023
  • That would present a number of undesirable issues for the Red Sox to deal with.
    — Mac Cerullo, Boston Herald, 22 Sep. 2025
  • Of course, some chunk of the Fox audience may just adopt the line, and see life-changing ideas as undesirable.
    — Prem Thakker, The New Republic, 21 Apr. 2023
  • This option can hide any undesirable storage pieces or clutter, Jones says.
    — Michelle Mastro, The Spruce, 14 June 2026
  • But, one heavier diet staple may also be the cause of that undesirable sound and stench— protein.
    — Cassie Shortsleeve, Men's Health, 13 May 2023
  • On the flip side, gaming can help us get rid of undesirable feelings, namely anxiety.
    — Gina Rich, Wired, 30 Nov. 2021
  • But the perceptions that the job is undesirable or all bad are just wrong, says Orozco Perez.
    — Julissa James, Los Angeles Times, 15 May 2023
  • Others might feel joy and support, making the thought of a drink completely undesirable.
    — Dominique Fluker, Essence, 11 Oct. 2023
  • Creams allow for even application on the skin, but they cannot be applied to clothing and can leave an undesirable residue.
    — Bestreviews, Mercury News, 5 Nov. 2025
  • But what about the plants that aren’t technically invasive, but are just plain undesirable?
    — Tovah Martin, Washington Post, 29 Mar. 2023
  • Bringing back greenery and nature to cities means living with the animal world, even in undesirable forms.
    — Madeleine Schwartz, The New York Review of Books, 27 July 2023
  • Lateral transfers of forces from one part of an active line to another are undesirable.
    — Karolina Hird, Time, 3 Aug. 2023
  • Nip hair shedding and undesirable flakes in the bud with this anti-dandruff shampoo that Kingsley loves.
    — Sophie Dweck, Town & Country, 6 June 2022
  • Williams also dedicated much of his life to making those undesirable sections less so.
    — Elise Taylor, Vanity Fair, 24 June 2026
  • What leads you there is an undesirable condition—one that leaves you open to being read as undesirable yourself.
    — Hazlitt, 27 Sep. 2023
  • The last thing the city wants is the birds to go from one undesirable location to another one, such as another park or a neighborhood.
    — Elena Bruess, San Antonio Express-News, 7 Feb. 2023

undesirable

2 of 2 noun
  • Those undesirables, with their poor-man gas cars, should be parking in the back anyway.
    — Jon Caldara, The Denver Post, 7 June 2019
  • Sunlight was weaponized against these undesirables.
    — Sam Bloch august 8, Literary Hub, 8 Aug. 2025
  • But barring undesirables was only half the battle; the herd also had to be culled from within.
    — David Oshinsky, New York Times, 14 Mar. 2016
  • Bringing in a great band helps, but too many undesirables started showing up in droves, so police had to be rented.
    — Cincinnati.com, 2 Aug. 2017
  • There were a couple of keys to attracting bites from the lunker trout and not the undesirables that were in the area, Schultz said.
    — Todd Masson, NOLA.com, 10 July 2017
  • The term was coined for land next to the road where nothing will grow, except perhaps undesirables such as crabgrass and poison ivy.
    — Tovah Martin, Washington Post, 12 July 2023
  • And so our ward, New Hyde, becomes a sort of metaphor for all the ways in which society disappears its undesirables.
    — John Hopewell, Variety, 27 Apr. 2026
  • Moreover, the practice of creating lists of political undesirables could be adopted on both sides of the aisle.
    — Phil Gramm and Michael Solon, WSJ, 14 Jan. 2020
  • Leadingham said online daters need to develop the skills necessary not just to woo others but also to keep undesirables at bay.
    — Los Angeles Times, 25 Sep. 2019
  • The undesirables are migrants or refugees, the desirables are expats or cosmopolitans.
    — Ben Huberman, Longreads, 21 July 2017
  • Membership directors now are tasked less with keeping out undesirables and more with ensuring that those who’ve joined stay engaged—and happy to keep paying their fees.
    — Mark Ellwood, Robb Report, 7 Sep. 2024
  • Alas, a cloud of false rumors about Lily’s character foments from her financial debts and her choice to consort with married men and social undesirables.
    — Indiewire Staff, IndieWire, 12 Aug. 2024
  • According to a study by Amerisleep, the list of undesirables includes bacteria, body fluids, dead skin cells and dust mites, all of which can harm your health, not to mention your peace of mind.
    — Terry Baddoo, USA Today, 19 Apr. 2025
  • Its effect, however, will give the army complete and absolute jurisdiction over any undesirables in any section of the country.
    — sandiegouniontribune.com, 20 Feb. 2018
  • But when applied to the mentally ill and other undesirables, the euthanasia movement became tied to the eugenics movement.
    — Grazie Pozo Christie, National Review, 13 Feb. 2018
  • Soon enough Como added bicycles and motorcycles and even random pedestrians to his list of undesirables.
    — Steven Winn, SFChronicle.com, 2 July 2018
  • Instead, this beefcake-free lineup is stocked with disconcertingly wholesome undesirables, each as bland as a glass of room-temperature milk.
    — Joe Berkowitz, Vulture, 19 May 2024
  • Last year, Mbappe was one of them when he was dumped into what is called the ‘loft’ in France — a group of undesirables akin to what is known as the ‘bomb squad’ in English football.
    — Peter Rutzler, The Athletic, 20 July 2024
  • Rohingya, treated as undesirables in predominantly Buddhist Myanmar, used to flee by sea by the thousands each year.
    — Fox News, 2 Apr. 2018
  • The undesirables who entered our country illegally, then committed some crime, were defended by protests against federal law enforcement.
    — Roger Van Zanen, The Orlando Sentinel, 17 Feb. 2026
  • And ultimately, cities walled themselves off, consigning criminals, the poor, and other undesirables to roam a dangerous rural wasteland.
    — Time, 27 July 2023
  • Similarly, disturbing large sections of soil while dispatching undesirables can expose seeds of other foes, so replant immediately with good guys that have a broad footprint to fill the space.
    — Tovah Martin, Washington Post, 9 Aug. 2023
  • This amazing little machine fights pollutants, mold, dander, and other airborne undesirables with technology that works at the molecular level.
    — Tony Vaz, Popular Science, 9 Mar. 2020
  • Limited national resources are to be reserved for the French and the French only, as a witch-hunt against refugees, Jews, and other undesirables consumes the country.
    — Harrison Stetler, The New York Review of Books, 21 Jan. 2020
  • Among this fast-growing class of undesirables was Loktev’s friend Anna Nemzer, a talk-show host for TV Rain (and a co-director on the film).
    — Justin Chang, New Yorker, 14 Aug. 2025
  • There, infertile women, resisters, and other undesirables (including a character played by Marisa Tomei) are enslaved and forced to clean up radioactive and toxic waste.
    — Christopher Wallenberg, BostonGlobe.com, 19 Apr. 2018
  • Gaiters have been around for centuries, helping people from Anglican deacons to range-riding cowboys prevent dirt, dust, pebbles, twigs bugs, snow, and other undesirables from entering shoes and boots or traveling up pants legs.
    — The Editors, Field & Stream, 8 Jan. 2020
  • Even a requirement, to be introduced in 2021, for visa-free entrants to the EU to pre-register online (to weed out undesirables) is a deterrent for some would-be purchasers.
    — The Economist, 31 Dec. 2019
  • Dumanis and her chief opponent, former Assemblyman Nathan Fletcher, are certain to be paired up with undesirables by the opposition.
    — Michael Smolens, sandiegouniontribune.com, 10 Sep. 2017
  • But behind it, Davenport sees the lurking specter of eugenics, a discredited pseudoscience that proposed the enhancement of the collective gene pool by eliminating undesirables.
    — Matthew Carey, Deadline, 15 July 2025

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'undesirable.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

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