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.

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.