unfit

English

Etymology

From un- +‎ fit.

Pronunciation

• (UK, US) IPA^(key): /ʌnˈfɪt/

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɪt

Adjective

unfit (comparative unfitter or more unfit, superlative unfittest or most unfit)

1. Not fit; not having the correct requirements.

   Synonym: unsuitable

   Antonyms: fit, suitable

   Jack cannot run, making him unfit for the track team.

   • 1953 April, “Notes and News: Locomotive Notes: London Midland Region”, in Railway Magazine, page 284:

     The latter engine was found unfit to take its return working at 5.35 p.m. from Luton, and No. 45616, Malta G.C., was provided by Kentish Town as substitute.

   • 1993 October, Nancy D. Polikoff, “Lesbian And Gay Parenting: What's At Stake?”, in Gay Community News, page 3:

     On September 7, 1993, Sharon Bottoms lost custody of her two-year-old son to her own mother. A Virginia judge found that her sexual relationship with her lover was immoral and rendered her an unfit parent.

2. Not fit, not having a good physical demeanor.

   Synonym: out of shape

   Antonyms: fit, in shape

   I've become so unfit after stopping cycling to town.

3. (often with for) Unsuitable for a particular purpose.
   • 2022 November 2, Paul Bigland, “New trains, old trains, and splendid scenery”, in RAIL, number 969, page 56:

     Sadly, the station that proves to be the busiest - Blackpool Pleasure Beach - is unfit for purpose. It possesses a tiny canopy back from the platform that offers little in the way of shelter or amenities, other than a couple of benches.

Derived terms

• unfitly
• unfitness

Translations

not fit; not having the correct requirements

• Bulgarian: негоден (bg) (negoden), неподходящ (bg) (nepodhodjašt)
• French: inapte (fr), incapable (fr), impropre (fr)
• German: untauglich (de)
• Gujarati: અયોગ્ય (ayogya)
• Japanese: そぐわない (soguwanai), 不適切な (ja) (futekidetsu na), 不相応な (ja) (fusōō na), 不向きな (fumuki na)
• Spanish: impropio (es)

not having a good physical demeanour

• Bulgarian: нетрениран (bg) (netreniran)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: please add this translation if you can

• Esperanto: please add this translation if you can
• French: please add this translation if you can
• German: schlapp (de) (coll.), lahm (de) (coll.), kraft- und saftlos (idiom), schwach (de)
• Maori: tē whiti (te tinana)

Verb

unfit (third-person singular simple present unfits, present participle unfitting, simple past and past participle unfitted)

1. To make unfit; to render unsuitable, spoil, disqualify.
   • 1851 November 14, Herman Melville, Moby-Dick; or, The Whale, 1st American edition, New York, N.Y.: Harper & Brothers; London: Richard Bentley, →OCLC:

     He [...] added that he was fearful Christianity, or rather Christians, had unfitted him for ascending the pure and undefiled throne of thirty pagan Kings before him.

   • 1946, Bertrand Russell, History of Western Philosophy, I.30:

     These preoccupations unfitted the soldiers for the defence of the frontier, and permitted vigorous incursions of Germans form the north and Persians from the east.

   • 2018, Anna Rogers, With Them Through Hell, →ISBN, page 403:

     This life entirely unfits you for general practice.

   • 2020 April 8, Dr David Turner, “How railway staff were conduits and victims of a pandemic”, in Rail, page 31:

     The Select Committee on Transport (Metropolitan Area) of 1919 concluded the following: "Trains were crowded not merely to excess, but almost to danger point. The crush in the 'peak hours' not only overloaded public conveyances, but subjected travellers - particularly the old, the feeble and women - to an amount of suffering, the effects of which often unfitted them temporarily for their ordinary duties."

Derived terms

• unfitting

Related terms

• unfittingly
• unfittingness

References

• “unfit”, in Cambridge English Dictionary, Cambridge, Cambridgeshire: Cambridge University Press, 1999–present.