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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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of unskilled
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
The network also reported female health workers saying that their newer colleagues were likely to be unskilled women who came from Taliban-loyal families.
—NPR, 14 Oct. 2025
See All Example Sentences for unskilled
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
The network also reported female health workers saying that their newer colleagues were likely to be unskilled women who came from Taliban-loyal families.
—NPR, 14 Oct. 2025
See All Example Sentences for unskilled
Recent Examples of Synonyms for unskilled
Adjective
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Another risk is infection from non-sterile equipment, which might happen if the procedure is done by inexperienced technicians or in non-medical settings, Hazan says.—
Erica Sweeney,
Time,
11 May 2026
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The other strong selling point is that the inexperienced videographer doesn't have to fiddle with a load of settings before recording.—
David Szondy
May 09,
New Atlas,
9 May 2026
Adjective
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She was found incompetent to stand trial in April 2026 and was ordered to a state hospital, the FBI said.—
Jeanine Santucci,
USA Today,
16 May 2026
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Last month, Rodriguez-Singh was found incompetent to stand trial on a capital murder charge in the death of her son, and she will be remanded to a state mental health facility until her competency can be restored.—
Lillie Davidson,
Fort Worth Star-Telegram,
15 May 2026
Adjective
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Set in the late 1980s, the movie is a New York micro-drama about a fellow named Jimmy George — an amateur performance artist who is battling AIDS, keeping the illness at bay with AZT.—
Owen Gleiberman,
Variety,
20 May 2026
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His 19-year-old son-in-law is an amateur heavyweight fighter.—
Rosemary Feitelberg,
Footwear News,
20 May 2026
Adjective
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Still, coaches worked to make the best of unfit practice locations and engage unsettled kids.—
Los Angeles Times,
Los Angeles Times,
13 May 2026
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All this while the federal government’s main tool for regulating medical software, the Food and Drug Administration’s device-approval process, is structurally unfit for regulating autonomous clinical AI.—
Alon Bergman,
STAT,
11 May 2026
Adjective
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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
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Not that the Rays are incapable of putting the baseball off and over the wall.—
Tom Layberger,
Forbes.com,
17 May 2026
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In a nutshell, Emilia resents her dad for decades of poor behavior, including a drinking problem that Martínez, who’s been sober for several years now, seems incapable of acknowledging.—
Jordan Mintzer,
HollywoodReporter,
16 May 2026
Cite this Entry
“Unskilled.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/unskilled. Accessed 23 May. 2026.
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