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What is "unsatisfactory"

Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English
unsatisfactory
adjective
COLLOCATIONS FROM CORPUS
■ ADVERB
as
▪ The rest of the interview was just as unsatisfactory, from Doug's point of view.
▪ This is as unsatisfactory as reading about a picture which is not illustrated.
highly
▪ Avoid giving your own opinion or contribution as this would create a three-way conversation highly unsatisfactory for speechreading.
▪ This is a highly unsatisfactory state of affairs.
▪ His solicitor, Bob Kneale, said the situation was highly unsatisfactory.
▪ I know that Matey here wants a maid of all work, and that the last two were highly unsatisfactory.
rather
▪ The result that appears below is thus a rather unsatisfactory compromise.
▪ From upwards its tone becomes thin and rather unsatisfactory, the flute being far preferable at that altitude.
▪ Trends and Structure of Commodity Trade Yugoslav statistics of foreign trade are rather unsatisfactory and difficult to interpret.
very
▪ Also it appeared that the accommodation was very unsatisfactory.
▪ A very unsatisfactory way to conduct business.
▪ Hairwashing had to be performed in cold water, which was very unsatisfactory, and in winter positively painful.
▪ Whether it is affirmative orders for national schemes or negative orders for local schemes, the procedure is very unsatisfactory.
▪ Clearly, a list of observation statements acquired in such a way would form a very unsatisfactory basis for the respective generalizations.
▪ I stuck around for another seven years for the children's sake but it was very unsatisfactory.
▪ Silk, particularly of the brocade type, is very unsatisfactory.
■ NOUN
nature
▪ She knew, at this particular moment, that Richard was distressed by the unsatisfactory nature of the meeting.
▪ The unsatisfactory nature of the legislation has long been recognized.
▪ She was frustrated by the unsatisfactory nature of the recent conversation.
situation
▪ Led by the deputy head, a number of assaults were mounted upon the unsatisfactory situation.
▪ A difficult and unsatisfactory situation became more complex by the day.
▪ Many factors contribute to this unsatisfactory situation.
▪ There are two general principles involved in putting right the unsatisfactory situation we have gradually disentangled and thus clarified.
▪ They say Mr Pritchard knew full well when he moved in that it was condemned Male speaker It's an unsatisfactory situation.
▪ However, not all blame for an unsatisfactory situation should be attributed to the musicians and their training.
state
▪ None the less, an inquiry by Youth Allyah in the autumn of 1940 revealed a persistently unsatisfactory state of affairs.
▪ This is a highly unsatisfactory state of affairs.
EXAMPLES FROM OTHER ENTRIES
▪ an unsatisfactory explanation
▪ It was a most unsatisfactory meeting - not a single decision was made.
▪ People should not accept unsatisfactory products. They should complain.
▪ Sharing my office with the two secretaries proved an unsatisfactory arrangement.
EXAMPLES FROM CORPUS
▪ And the ending is slightly unsatisfactory, arguably deficient in the final twist or flourish.
▪ Do moral arguments provide an unsatisfactory basis upon which to prohibit insider dealing?
▪ In the thirteen years since these figures were announced, the progress which has been made has been unsatisfactory.
▪ This arrangement proved unsatisfactory because there was no corresponding transfer of executive power.
▪ This was a most unsatisfactory outcome.
▪ Within the culture as a whole these popular activities can be said to have established a limited, unresolved but not entirely unsatisfactory position.
Douglas Harper's Etymology Dictionary
unsatisfactory

1640s, from un- (1) "not" + satisfactory (adj.). Related: Unsatisfactorily; unsatisfactoriness.

Wiktionary
unsatisfactory

a. inadequate, substandard or not satisfactory

WordNet
unsatisfactory

adj. not giving satisfaction; "shops should take back unsatisfactory goods"; "her performance proved to be unsatisfactory"; "life is becoming increasingly unsatifactory"; "our discussion was very unsatisfactory" [ant: satisfactory]

Usage examples of "unsatisfactory".

It may happen that with an unknown ore the first assay will be more or less unsatisfactory: but from it the necessity for adding more or less flour will be learnt, and a second assay, with the necessary modification of the charge, should give a good result.

Thus, while Marion is everywhere regarded as the peculiar representative in the southern States, of the genius of partisan warfare, we are surprised, when we would trace, in the pages of the annalist, the sources of this fame, to find the details so meagre and so unsatisfactory.

In other cases, arbitration may be unsatisfactory if the arbitrator, unlike the court, has no way of enforcing his decisions.

A cheaper method, that of cramming victims into trucks and killing them with engine exhaust, was judged unsatisfactory because not enough victims could be asphyxiated at one time.

What happened however was that the long fight about trying to get these small easements and to prevent the wholesale scrapping of one vast front in order to conform to a rigid date upon the other led to prolonged, unsatisfactory operations in Italy.

Since that time it has been given almost every year in Leipsic, and more or less frequently in all the musical centers of the world, but its elaboration is very great and its vocal treatment unsatisfactory to solo voices, for which reason it succeeds only under the inspiration of an artistic and enthusiastic leader.

It is also unsatisfactory to some that the elective franchise is not given to the colored man.

It was an unsatisfactory embrace encased in a centimeter of protective armor.

And the radio call to alert Sereno, placed just minutes ago, had garnered a most unsatisfactory response.

Mr Wharton got up from his chair, hesitated a moment, and then gave his hand to the intruder in that half-unwilling, unsatisfactory manner which most of us have experienced when shaking hands with some cold-blooded, ungenial acquaintance.

I thought of my friend Wiggy, waiting in for a visit from her lover, and grew angry on her behalf Better a marriage, however brief and unsatisfactory, than an arrangement such as hers.

The present organization is defective and unsatisfactory, and the suggestions submitted by the department will, it is believed, if adopted, obviate the difficulties alluded to, promote harmony, and increase the efficiency of the navy.

Certain waters, for instance, those contaminated to any extent with organic matter, cannot be used at all in brewing, as they give rise to unsatisfactory fermentation, cloudiness and abnormal flavour.

As a young man aspiring to a career in environmental studies, I found this exclusivist position of scientists just as unsatisfactory as similar claims of religious believers.

He imagined it, awkward, clumsy, unsatisfactory for Dickie, and Marge loving it.