Meanings
comparative more unacceptable · superlative most unacceptable
- Unsatisfactory; not acceptable.
The British Transport Commission (BTC) was created to own not just the railways, but also London Underground, docks, inland waterways, and some road haulage activities. Its remit was to operate on a break-even basis, with sustained losses unacceptable.
2023 March 8, David Clough, “The long road that led to Beeching”, in RAIL, number 978, page 381 more example
"This shocking report proves once again that we urgently need a radical shake-up of hospital care," said Jeremy Hughes, chief executive of the Alzheimer's Society. "Given that people with dementia occupy a quarter of hospital beds and that many leave in worse health than when they were admitted, it is unacceptable that training in dementia care is not the norm."
2011 December 16, Denis Campbell, “Hospital staff 'lack skills to cope with dementia patients'”, in The Guardian, archived from the original on 31 May 2022 - human sciencesNot conforming to accepted usage.
plural unacceptables
- Something that is not acceptable.
Second, the data collected using CASEMAP afford us the opportunity to conduct market segmentation analyses based on the similarity in the pattern of unacceptables and/or the benefits that consumers seek in the category.
1989, Walter A. Henry, Michael Menasco, Hirokazu Takada, New-product Development and Testing, page 106
Synonyms & antonyms
adjectivenot adequate to give satisfaction
adjective(used of persons or their behavior) not acceptable or reasonable
adjectivenot conforming to standard usage
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
- Middle Englishunacceptabylle
- Englishunacceptable
From Middle English unacceptabylle, equivalent to un- + acceptable.
More words from Middle English
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Ancient Greek ἀπαράδεκτος
- ἀπαράδεκτος (aparádektos)unsatisfactory; not acceptable
Bulgarian неприе́млив
- неприе́млив (nepriémliv)unsatisfactory; not acceptable
Catalan inacceptable
- inacceptableunsatisfactory; not acceptable
Chinese Cantonese 冇得接受
- 冇得接受 (mou⁵ dak¹ zip³ sau⁶)unsatisfactory; not acceptable
Chinese Mandarin 無可接受 /无可接受
- 無可接受 /无可接受 (wúkě jiēshòu)unsatisfactory; not acceptable
Czech nepřijatelný
- nepřijatelnýunsatisfactory; not acceptable
Danish uacceptabel, utilstedelig
- uacceptabelunsatisfactory; not acceptable
- utilstedeligunsatisfactory; not acceptable
Dutch onaanvaardbaar, onacceptabel
- onaanvaardbaarunsatisfactory; not acceptable
- onacceptabelunsatisfactory; not acceptable
- ontoelaatbaarunsatisfactory; not acceptable
Esperanto malakceptebla
- malakcepteblaunsatisfactory; not acceptable
Finnish hyväksymiskelvoton, mahdoton hyväksyä
- hyväksymiskelvotonunsatisfactory; not acceptable
- mahdoton hyväksyäunsatisfactory; not acceptable
French inacceptable, inadmissible
- inacceptableunsatisfactory; not acceptable
- inadmissibleunsatisfactory; not acceptable
German inakzeptabel
- inakzeptabelunsatisfactory; not acceptable
Greek απαράδεκτος
- απαράδεκτος (aparádektos)unsatisfactory; not acceptable
Hungarian elfogadhatatlan
- elfogadhatatlanunsatisfactory; not acceptable
Italian inaccettabile, inammissibile
- inaccettabileunsatisfactory; not acceptable
- inammissibileunsatisfactory; not acceptable
- intollerabileunsatisfactory; not acceptable
- ingiustificabileunsatisfactory; not acceptable
Japanese 容認できない
- 容認できない (yōnin dekinai)unsatisfactory; not acceptable
Persian غیر قابل قبول
- غیر قابل قبول (gheir-e ghâbel-e ghâbul)unsatisfactory; not acceptable
Polish niedopuszczalny, nieakceptowalny
- niedopuszczalnyunsatisfactory; not acceptable
- nieakceptowalnyunsatisfactory; not acceptable
Portuguese inaceitável
- inaceitávelunsatisfactory; not acceptable
Romanian neacceptabil, inacceptabil
- neacceptabilunsatisfactory; not acceptable
- inacceptabilunsatisfactory; not acceptable
- nesatisfăcătorunsatisfactory; not acceptable
Russian неприе́млемый, недопусти́мый
- неприе́млемый (neprijémlemyj)unsatisfactory; not acceptable
- недопусти́мый (nedopustímyj)unsatisfactory; not acceptable
- непозволи́тельный (nepozvolítelʹnyj)unsatisfactory; not acceptable
Spanish inaceptable, no ser de recibo
- inaceptableunsatisfactory; not acceptable
- no ser de recibounsatisfactory; not acceptable
Swedish oacceptabel
- oacceptabelunsatisfactory; not acceptable
Tagalog di-katanggap-tanggap
- di-katanggap-tanggapunsatisfactory; not acceptable
Ukrainian неприйнятни́й, неприпусти́мий
- неприйнятни́й (nepryjnjatnýj)unsatisfactory; not acceptable
- неприпусти́мий (neprypustýmyj)unsatisfactory; not acceptable
- недопусти́мий (nedopustýmyj)unsatisfactory; not acceptable
Vietnamese không thể chấp nhận
- không thể chấp nhậnunsatisfactory; not acceptable
Welsh annerbyniol
- annerbyniolunsatisfactory; not acceptable
Cite this entry
unacceptable. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/unacceptable
“unacceptable.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/unacceptable. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “unacceptable,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/unacceptable.
Source: unacceptable on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.