unreliable

comparative more unreliable · superlative most unreliable

1. Not reliable.

   The opposite issue emerges in the summer when students face scorching temperatures with unreliable or nonexistent air conditioning.

   2018 January 4, Janie Tankard Carnock, “Frigid Baltimore City schools: The racism we haven’t confronted”, in CNN

   2 more examples

   Tell one another whether any one of you has ever heard me discuss such questions briefly or at length; and then you will realize that the other popular reports about me are equally unreliable.

   1954, Plato, translated by Hugh Tredennick, “Socrates on Trial: The Apology”, in The Last Days of Socrates (Penguin Classics), Harmondsworth, Middlesex: Penguin Books, →OCLC, page 22

   "Operating the WCML at this intensity makes it challenging to maintain acceptable performance levels, resulting in a frustratingly unreliable service for passengers. Minor disruption can escalate into significant delays because a train running only a few minutes late can miss its slot across a junction, resulting in a snowballing effect across the network."

   2020 May 6, Philip Haigh, “Just one more stop on the long journey to HS2 fulfillment [sic]”, in Rail, page 65

   Synonyms: flakey, sporadic, undependable, shaky · Antonyms: reliable

plural unreliables

1. One who or that which cannot be relied upon.

   His employment by the leading papers in Chicago was intermittent, as he was classed among the unreliables. One could never tell when he was going to get drunk.

   1894, Inebriety: its treatment and cure, page 17